Up (Five-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray/ DVD + Digital Copy) (2009)

Someday, Pixar is going to do it -they're going to create an emotionally uninspiring, lackluster animated movie. But in the meantime, they're still putting out delightful animated movies like "Up," which defies the usual kid-movie conventions by starring a crotchety old man. It's a charming, fun little adventure story with flying dogs and balloon-powered houses, but underlying it is a bittersweet little story about loss and love.

As a child, the shy Carl Fredricksen bonded with the oddball Ellie over their shared love of adventure, the explorer Charles Muntz, and Paradise Falls. They later married, move into their "clubhouse" together, and lived a long, sadly childless life together. When Ellie died, she had never fulfilled her dream of going to Paradise Falls.

Now crotchety, alone and harassed by a real estate developer, Carl (Ed Asner) is finally ordered to a retirement home. But he isn't going quietly -instead he attaches thousands of balloons to his house and floats it away toward South America. But he accidentally takes an enthusiastic, naive Wilderness Explorer (a thinly-veiled Boy Scout) named Russell (Jordan Nagai) along for the ride. Poor kid was just trying to earn an "assisting the elderly" badge.

And the jungle trek to Paradise Falls turns out to have some surprising obstacles: a big emulike bird that Russell names Kevin, a talking dog named Dug ("I am jumping on you, bird!"), and a mysterious old man who lives deep in the heart of the jungle. Turns out the old guy is very familiar to Carl -and to capture Kevin, he's willing to sacrifice Carl and Russell.

Industry experts were babbling about how "Up" wouldn't be as popular as the previous Pixar movies, because the protagonist is basically a crusty old coot. Well, shows what they know. It ended up becoming one of those classic movies that somehow appeals to all ages -while the humor and action appeal to children, adults can appreciate Carl's love for his lost wife, and his slow realization that he's clinging to the past.

In fact, the first ten minutes are some of the most heart-tugging, quietly bittersweet scenes I've seen in a long time. Without a word, they show all the ups and downs of a realistic marriage -joys, sorrows (Ellie's inability to have children), growing old together, and finally loss.

But it's not a depressing movie by any stretch -in fact, it's like a childhood fantasy come to life, complete with a floating house suspended on hundreds of balloons, and biplanes piloted by a talking dog army.. Plenty of great dialogue ("Do you want to play a game? It's called See Who Can Go the Longest Without Saying Anything." "Cool! My mom loves that game!") and an action-packed climax in an aged airship.

Ed Asner is absolutely perfect as ubergrouch Carl -crotchety, grumpy, and determined to fulfill his wife's lifelong dream, but gradually realizing he's clinging to the past. Nagai is equally perfect as Carl's polar opposite: a naive, chattery Scout who is determined to reunite Kevin with her baby chicks. And the utterly adorable Dug and the other dogs deserve special notice. These creatures are utterly hilarious -they talk ("I hid under your porch because I love you") and act the way dogs would if they talked. Three words: cone of shame.

The two-disc edition is going to have some very nice extras, but once again people with regular-def DVDs are going to get shafted because the Blu-ray edition will have a bunch of exclusive stuff. Grr. As for this one, there's a digital copy, the director's audio commentary, kinda-alternate-ending "The Many Endings of Muntz," and the documentary "Adventure Is Out There" about the research for this movie.

There are also a pair of adorable animated shorts. "Partly Cloudy" has a much-abused stork having to deliver potentially harmful baby creatures from a kind but clueless cloud. And "Dug's Special Mission" is a sort of backstory for the adorable Dug, explaining what the heck he was doing before he met up with Carl and Russell.

"Up" continues Pixar's running tally of gloriously animated, emotionally layered movies that the entire family can enjoy. With that, I have only one more thing to say... SQUIRREL!

I had no expectations of being disappointed with a Disney/Pixar BD, and being that it took me a whole dedicated day to get through everything, I now feel it was worth every penny. The film was enjoyable, funny, sad, and scary filled with some nice messages about life and loss. I can understand why the majority of my customers loved it.

The Blu clarity is outstanding, and the amount of reference points are extensive, but one that stands out the most for contrast lines would have to be when the house is entering the lair (balloons against the dark cavern). The sound is selectable between 5.1 DTS, 2.0 DTS and Descriptive English. The 5.1 was beautiful with tons of reference points, sometimes excruciating (that bird screeching) but thorough nonetheless. Now for the supplements (all times in minutes):

DISC 1: (BD)

* 5:46 Partly Cloudy short film. Was hilarious. A great depth test for your display with the clouds. Nice little message of tolerance no matter how difficult someone might be.

* 4:40 Dug's Mission. An almost lo-def looking short take on our main dog dealing with the main three baddies on a chase.

* 22:17 Adventure Out There. A must see documentary about the crew taking the actual trip to the Tepui location in South America. A beautiful travel infomercial in itself. Loved how their guide only wore sandles for the ascent and hikes.

* 4:56 Alternate Scenes Ending of Muntz. Sketches and interviews regarding different endings for that bad guy that they had come up with.

* 1:00 How-to on using the Digital Copy.

* Cine Explore option while watching the film. The two directors give their commentary with multiple pop-up screens showing art, ideas, etc.

* Screen Saver. Allows you to set a time period for your screen saver to activate.

* Maximize Your Home Theater. The standard Pixar multi-step process for setting all of your theater capabilities.

DISC 2: (BD)

Documentaries

* 6:24 Geriatric Hero. History behind the creation of our old guy. All of these documentaries are interview oriented with sketches and film clips to supplement.

* 8:26 Canine Companions. In depth analysis on the breed choices, training and dog behavior studied to get the dogs in the film to be more dog like.

* 9:00 Russel Wild Explorer. Covers the reasons for his character to have the loss and why he was "egg" shaped as opposed to other sketch ideas.

* 5:04 Kevin (bird). Nice reference to the Swiss Family Robinson ostrich; covered the hardest part of any of these animation films the feathers.

* 4:38 Homemakers Pixar. Enjoyed the work that went into them studying sub-floors and lighting options in making this look so real in the house.

* 6:25 Balloons and Flight. Tells the now famous number of balloons used; some interesting dirigible history; shows the Pixar group using that local Bay Area air service I keep seeing fly around here (research stuff).

* 7:37 Composing for Characters. Have to be into the musical/scoring stuff for this one.

Extras

* Global Guardian Badge Game. After the initial setup of name, difficulty levels and tutorial material, the game has an extensive amount of country/geography material. Customers grouped around and we did fine for the United States section, but we randomly tried Africa and we bombed (some of the countries they were asking for I hadn't heard of in years) good learning tool though.

* 9:15 Alternate Scene Married Life. Another sketch/interview piece about more material being removed/added into that section of the film. The scene itself would have been only a minute longer.

* 6:00 montage. A mix of characters doing funny things will make the kids laugh.

* Screen Saver option.

DISC 3 (DVD)

* Film, plus special features from disc 1. WITH THE EXCEPTION of no Spanish subtitles/language; English only.

DISC 4 (Digital Copy).

* Code both unlocks the copy and gets you the usual points at the Disney site.

Overall, an excellent product no matter how you look at it. The case has that new single hinge, multi-page off center chassis that has proven to be less than durable, but it should suffice for low usage storage. Enjoy.

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Another commendable, 4-star outing from Pixar.

The DVD packaging is another matter. There have been many complaints about the computer-incompatibility, but my gripe is about the "pecking order" for those that want the single-disc DVD vs. the 4-disc Blu-ray and everything in-between.

Time was when you bought a 2-disc set of a Pixar film, you got hours worth of neat, entertaining and enlightening extras (example: the exhaustive Super Heroes guide with "The Incredibles"). By the time "Cars" came out, you could only get a single-disc version with very few extras. "Ratatouille": same story. "Wall-E" somewhat rectified the situation with the available 3-disc version, which did have generous bonuses if you shelled out the bucks, that is. "Up" has the most deceptive packaging of all: a bare-bones single-disc version (you just want the movie and a lot of promos? You got it!), the "deluxe" DVD version (which Amazon/Disney advertise as a "Two-Disc Deluxe Edition + Digital Copy", which can imply there are three discs [there are not], and there are certainly NOT "hours of new bonus! [sic]", as the slip-sleeve boasts), and a 4-disc Blu-ray version for those fortunate enough to own that format. Disney is obviously hard-balling the recession-weary public into buying Blu-ray players and their inflated-priced discs and punishing those who are scraping by with an archaic DVD.

What would have been nice is an extras-packed double-DVD w/o the digital copy (I don't know anybody who really uses this), a better-valued single-DVD version and maybe even a single-Blu-ray.

The release date for a Pixar movie used to be an event. Now it's a downer, waiting to see how Disney rips its faithful public off again.

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It is a good movie, but my wife is Deaf and can not enjoy this movie yet again (since we saw it at the theater) Also our Deaf friends and their children are excluded. This is a real waste of money for us. The movie companies are getting greedier and greedier.. shame on you Disney.

**Today and email was in my box via the Disney store says "The box states that it has captions for the hearing impaired, spanish (etc) and closed caption."

Well, the box SAYS IT it must be true!??

(Tested on several systems)

WELL THEY STILL AIN'T WORKING!!

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Grab your husband or significant other (after packing off the kids for a sleep over, if applicable), pour some F.A.B.s (frosty adult beverage) and snuggle up on the couch to watch UP! A wonderful, touching movie about a widower who takes pleasure in circumventing those who would have him move to Shady Acres nursing home and give up the home he and his wife, Ellie, made. Walter, our protagonist, is known as a crotchety old man. What most people don't know is that Walter is a lonely man since his wife and life-long love died. They never made their dream trip to Paradise Falls. Like most of us of a certain age, we plan and dream, hoping to fulfill that dream one day. One day never came for Ellie and Walter; but now that the powers that be think he should be in a retirement home, Walter has a Plan. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a young scout (Russell), trying to achieve a badge for Elderly Assistance, is caught up in Walter's plan to foil the well-meaning social worker.

This is a Disney/Pixar Studios film, so the images are just spectacular. I have seen the behind the scenes video (included on the discs) where the team of artists travels to Tepui in South America, the area Walter (& Russell) have their adventure. It's amazing how realistic the animation depicts the natural beauty of this area! I don't normally watch the "Extras" that come with a dvd, but in this case, made an exception and throughly enjoyed them. From the 3 shorts (including alternate endings) to the aforementioned trip by the artistic team to South America. Another disc is devoted to in depth behind the scenes and documentaries showing their studies of geriatrics to dog breeds. Everything very informative and not boring. The set also includes a digital copy of the movie Up (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live) [Blu-ray]. There is also a game (Global Guardian Badge game--a geography skills game that can be set for different skill levels), a 'deleted scene' piece on married life and a montage of stills (kinda a blooper reel feel) of various characters doing funny things/situations. Very funny stuff, especially for children.

All in all, this is a lush, amazing movie--both the story line as well as the animation. Characters are well developed and mostly (with one notable exception) likeable...especially the dog! Lots of life lessons included, par for Disney. A great way to spend a day or night (or both for all the discs!). Amazon has a GREAT PRICE on this set, better by far than any local stores. Combined with the awesome shipping and customer service, you cannot go wrong purchasing this Up set! Buy it today, schedule that one-on-one time with the love of YOUR life and another viewing with the family. Even my 76 year-old mother loved this movie. Make sure you buy Puffs Ultra Soft and Strong Facial Tissues, Family Boxes, 744-Count to have on hand for viewing, it is a quite touching, moving story of love and life! Highly recommended.

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Planet of the Apes (1968)

I recently watched this original version of "The Planet of the Apes" for the first time since seeing it at a drive-in theater back in 1968. First I was amazed at how much of the film I had forgotten. Actually, most of what I remembered was the (then) shocking ending. What I was impressed with this time around was what an intelligent and well-scripted film this was (and still is). Like any good science fiction, this film provides an interesting commentary on the human condition. One the one hand you have the Minister of Science and Defender of the Faith debunking and destroying an archeological dig, because it is contrary to the faith of the Apes, but on the other hand in his reading from the sacred scrolls you hear the accurate description of the destructive (dare I say "sinful?") nature of humans. I've been pondering this segment of the film quite a bit over the past few days. Like others, I think Charlton Heston is in fine form here. It's easy to picture him as president of the National Rifle Association after seeing this film. I still prefer Heston in "Ben Hur" and "the Ten Commandments," but that probably reflects my personal interest in the stories that are told there. As one Academy Award film-maker recently said upon receiving his lifetime achievement Oscar (I think it was Norman Jewison), "Find a story that needs to be told and tell it." This version of "The Planet of the Apes" certainly tells a good story, and tells it well.

20th Century Fox released the film previously on DVD by itself and in a box set with the rest of the Apes films plus a bonus DVD of extras. Now, for those who just want the first (and best) film of the series and all of the extras, Fox has released an excellent two-DVD special edition of Planet of the Apes to celebrate its 35th anniversary.

The DVD's extras get off to a shaky start with the two lackluster audio commentaries. The first is by legendary composer, Jerry Goldsmith, and the second by actors Roddy McDowall, Natalie Trundy, Kim Hunter and make-up artist John Chambers. Both commentaries could benefit from some extensive editing. There is way too much dead air that one has to sit through to get to the few interesting tidbits of information. The DVD producers should have edited down these commentaries to only the scenes in the movie that are actually commented on, like with the audio tracks on the Glengarry Glen Ross and The Right Stuff DVDs.

The text commentary by Eric Greene, author of Planet of the Apes as American Myth, redeems things by cramming a ton of interesting factoids on the screen in the form of subtitles. It's scary when the text commentary is better than both audio commentaries combined.

The second DVD contains the bulk of the extra material. The first section, "Exploring the Apes," contains a comprehensive, two-hour documentary entitled, "Behind the Planet of the Apes." Hosted by Roddy McDowall, it takes a look at the entire Apes saga from the films to the cartoon and TV series with an emphasis on the first (and best) film. Fans of the Apes films will be delighted to see all the major players from the films back for new interviews done exclusively for this documentary.

Also included in this section is the make-up test reel with Edward G. Robinson that convinced the 20th Century Fox brass to pony up the money for the film. There is "Roddy McDowall Home Movies" taken while making the first Apes movie that shows the step-by-step application of his ape make-up. There are 19 minutes of dailies and outtakes from the film.

There are also two vintage featurettes from 1968 and 1972 respectively. They are nothing more than superficial promos but are now fascinating time capsules of their times. Finally, there are two brief featurettes that showcase footage of directors Don Taylor and J. Lee Thompson shooting a scene from the Apes films that they worked on. These last two extras feel like unnecessary padding.

The "Publicity" section contains theatrical trailers for all of the Apes films, two glowing reviews for The Planet of the Apes and a collection of movie posters from all around the world.

The "Galleries" section features sketches by costume designer Morton Haack and a small stills gallery.

Finally, the "Ape Phenomenon" offers a brief glimpse into the vast Apes merchandising empire with a gallery of action figures. Also included is a collection of costumes and make-up from the films.

This new two-DVD set does justice to this landmark science fiction film. The transfer is amazing clear and free of any artifacting. The movie also hasn't sounded better with a crystal clear 5.1 surround soundtrack. While the audio commentaries are a let down, the two-hour documentary more than makes up for it. This is well worth picking up if you are a fan of the first film and want all the supplemental materials included in the box set without having to pay the extra money for the inferior sequels.

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This is a review of the quality of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray. The video looks good for a film as aged as this, but is not even close to stunning. The high def transfer in some cases actually serves to accentuate problems you might not have noticed otherwise. I saw more than a few soft scenes where they looked unfocused. Grain was never too obtrusive, but the colors were uneven through a good portion of the film. Some scenes were rich and vivid, and others washed out. My biggest problem is the sound. They present the sound here as a DTS 5.1 mix, and a mono mix. I chose DTS and was sorely dissapointed. My subwoofer never kicked on. That means that there was never an instance when there was a frequency lower than about 85hz. This made for a very shallow sounding mix. Adding to that, the surround speakers never seemed to register anything, and you've got what sounded to me like a mono mix anyway. All of the sound seemed to come from my center channel. To me, digitally remastering a film soundtrack at this level means accentuating the lower registries by adding lower frequencies, and placing atmospheric and musical elements in the surround channels. If you don't plan on doing that, what's the use of calling it a DTS 5.1 mix? Anyway, this is by far the best transfer I've ever seen of the film, but don't be looking for anything more than a slightly better than average transfer, and a glorified mono track.

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There weren't many memorable science fiction films in the 1960s, but the few that met with success found it unusually enduring. "Planet of the Apes" didn't achieve the canonical status of "2001: A Space Odyssey", released the same year. But it spawned a 5-film franchise, inspired a reconceived version in 2001, and it still makes an impression. Rod Serling, of "Twilight Zone" fame, and Michael Wilson wrote the screenplay based on Pierre Boulle's 1963 French novel at producer Arthur P. Jacobs' behest. Beyond its surprise ending, cult appeal, and socio-political undertones, the film's makeup and score are notable. This was the second of seven films on which the late composer Jerry Goldsmith worked with director Franklin Schaffner. And John Chambers ground-breaking prosthetic makeup won an Honorary Oscar for Outstanding Makeup Achievement.

George Taylor (Charlton Heston) is the leader of a 6-month deep space mission that left Earth in 1972. The four-person crew expects to return to Earth some 700 years after they left, owing to the speed at which their craft was traveling. They place themselves into a state of stasis for the journey home not knowing what they will find when they awake. The ship unexpectedly lands in water. The crew has to bail out, and they find themselves in a landscape devoid of vegetation. The ship's clock said 3978, implying that 2000 years have passed, and they suspect they've missed Earth by 300,000 light years. But a primitive human-like species inhabits this planet, along with a society of ape-like creatures who possess something akin to 19th-century technology. But the Apes are not friendly towards humans, and Taylor is taken captive.

Viewed more than 40 years after it was made, "Planet of the Apes" didn't seem nearly as campy or dated as I expected. Even the ape makeup is not too bad. I wonder if Taylor's disposition might partly account for it. His misanthropy and arrogance age better than earnestness or patience would have. The film's stance against animal experimentation, its criticism of the assumption that a species is unintelligent and unworthy if it can't speak, its Darwinism, its ruminations on the human capacity for self-destruction, particularly through nuclear war, address hot-button issues of the 1960s. It's not subtle. More subtle, though, is the reflection on the role of religion and of community leaders in shaping our views of the past: History as a socio-political tool. The horrific consequences of lying with good intentions. It's a neglected and provocative topic, even now.

The DVD (20th Century Fox 2006): There are two "audio commentaries" that seem to be interviews recorded at different times, pieced together, and played over the film. The first is a commentary by composer Jerry Goldsmith. The second is by actors Roddy McDowall, Natalie Trundy, Kim Hunter, and makeup artist John Chambers. These "commentaries" are sparse and would have been better simply as interviews or run over short excerpts of the film, so the viewer could locate them easily. There is also a "Text Commentary" by Eric Greene, author of "Planet of the Apes as American Myth". This runs in the lower frame, like subtitles. This also would have been better if we could just read the essay, instead of reading a few words at a time. Subtitles for the film are available in English SDH and Spanish. Dubbing available in Spanish and French.

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Oh, man...I love this movie. I can watch it over and over and over again and still find it absolutely fascinating. I love the Charleston Heston character; Taylor. He's so anti-human himself and then winds up on a planet where "the only good human is a dead human..." I am well aware of the fact this particular line is from the second movie, but even before that line was even uttered you got the feeling that this was the overall attitude of the inhabitants.

The part that still gets me is the ending. I remember watching it with my dad for the first time on network television; that scene played out and my dad let out an audible gasp. It was just totally ironic. Taylor has discovered the destiny of the human race. It still sends chills up my spine just thinking about it.

The Tim Burton remake was absolutely horrid. My friend and went to go see that piece of monkey **** only to drive home and rewatch the original. Maybe Tim Burton needs to enroll in some kind of class where they can teach him some of the basics on how to make movies.

Stick with the classic original. Even if you're not into science fiction you will find this movie to be absolutely incredible. Everything from the writing, to the shot locations, to the screenwriting is total and complete perfection.

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Bride of Frankenstein (Import)

I am one of the legion of admirers who believe that this film represents the apex of both James Whale's directorial career and Universal Studios' first cycle of monster movies. Cleverly scripted, flawlessly acted, wittily directed, and hauntingly scored, it's a marvel of a movie on many levels; it works as a horror film, a satire, a black comedy, a social commentary -even as a romantic melodrama -depending on your individual interpretation.

It's a real pity, then, that this rich cinematic treasure has received such a disappointing transfer to the DVD format. After experiencing the sharply focused, pristine prints presented on Universal's DVD releases of "Frankenstein" and "The Mummy", my expectations for "Bride" were enthusiastically high. What a letdown! The film is grainy, with distractingly poor contrast -the actors appear to have microcrobes running across their faces, like amoeba that you might observe under a microscope. And there were a couple of pops and jumps inherent in the source material that I don't recall having seen on the VHS tape release of this film.

The extras are the only features that keep this disc from being a complete fiasco. The poster and still archive is remarkable, and the "making of" featurette is informative and enjoyable. The theatrical trailer is the one used for the film's Realart re-release and not the Universal original. I strongly suspect (and hope) there will some day be a "restored" edition of this movie available. Unless you just can't wait to add this title to your DVD collection, I have to regretfully advise that until such an improved version comes along, you spend your hard-earned pennies on an alternate selection.

As mentioned by many others, the film, commentary, documentary etc are all excellent. No need to repeat. But a major flaw in the film transfer itself is the amount of information removed at the top. The tops of heads are chopped and the glowing crudifix at the climax of the blind hermit scene is cropped so much you cannot tell it is a cross. I have compared the laser and vhs copies of this film to the dvd. The laser and vhs crop information from the bottom, a FAR better choice. I consider the cropping on the dvd so bad as to make the film almost unwatchable. I'll be keeping my laserdisc and videotape.

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I was waiting with great anticipation the release of The Bride of Frankenstein DVD. I ,like many others, consider this movie to be the greatest horror film of all time. I already own the movie on VHS but I couldn't wait to see the sparkling, crystal clear picture that I know the DVD format can deliver. Unfortunately, Universal decided to dig up the worst print they could find to put on DVD.

The worst thing about it is the horrible grainy look of the film. There are so many tiny little black dots on the picture that it is almost impossible to concentrate on the actors. It is a terrible looking picture. And somehow or other they have managed to mess up the framing of the picture even though it is a 1.33:1 image. You only get to see about 85% of the picture compared to the VHS. Universal....how could you?

The extras on the DVD are quite good but it's the movie that counts! Other titles in the series of classic Universal horror movies are better but none of them so far are what true DVD enthusiasts and real movie fans want to see. I really hope that Universal quickly decides to remaster The Bride of Frankenstein DVD and then allows us poor souls to exchange our current copies for a new one.

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Rarely is a sequel, particularly a horror sequel, better than its predecessor, but Bride of Frankenstein (1935) easily replaced the 1931 original classic as the definitive Universal Frankenstein movie. Director James Whale did not want to do another Frankenstein movie for the most admirable of reasons, and largely because of his feelings on the matter he brought to a life a sequel that sought perfection in every discernible way and provided a much deeper and more poignant look at the monster of Frankenstein's creation the comedic exploitation of the monster did not begin on his watch. The addition of a full-scale musical score added depth and its own emotional layers to the drama, Karloff brought amazing pathos and humanity to the creature, and Elsa Lanchester, in a few short minutes, gave the world one of the truly eternal horror images and icons in the form of the Bride of Frankenstein's Monster (which is what the film should have been called).

Most of the principal cast members of the original Frankenstein movie reprise their roles here, including Colin Clive as Frankenstein and the inimitable Boris Karloff as the monster. Mae Clarke, however, was unavailable for health reasons, and a seventeen-year-old Valerie Hobson took on the role of Elizabeth, Frankenstein's fiancée. This is a noticeable change, as Hobson played Elizabeth in a strikingly different manner. As you may have guessed, Frankenstein's monster did not actually die in the big fire that ended the first motion picture. The windmill was built over a cistern (more like a great big underground pond, if you ask me), and the monster escapes the conflagration, not before killing a couple of people and scaring Minnie, this film's version of interminable comic relief, half to death. Dr. Frankenstein, for his part, also survives (although we already knew this thanks to the last-minute concluding scene of the first movie). He regrets his foolish attempts to play God, even though he still speaks with a mad zeal about the dreams he pursued so dangerously. Enter Dr. Praetorius (Ernest Thesiger), a former professor of Frankenstein's and the kind of evil genius our reformed young doctor should have become. Praetorius has been doing his own God-like experiments and now seeks to join his knowledge with that of Frankenstein to make not a man, but a woman. In the film's only borderline ridiculous moments, we see the products of Praetorius' work the film work and special effects are brilliantly done, but the whole idea is just laughably silly. Still, you can't help liking old Praetorius because he is everything a mad scientist should be. Frankenstein has now become well, (...) a cowardly man who seems incapable of acting on his own accord. Luckily, Dr. Praetorius knows how to deal with a man such as Frankenstein, and he eventually succeeds in getting the good doctor back in the lab for one final experiment.

As for Frankenstein's monster, we finally get to see the humanity of the character emerge. Seeking friendship, he is met only with fear, screams, and malice. He does manage to find a friend in the countryside, however the sound of violin music takes him to the home of a blind hermit. In one of the most touching scenes in cinema history, the blind man takes the monster in, thanks God for finally sending him a friend to assuage his loneliness, and shines the full light of humanity, all too briefly, on the lonely creature. Naturally, this time of happiness does not last long, but the monster does develop the ability to speak before he is separated forever from his friend. He ends up crossing paths with Dr. Praetorius, who quickly sells him on the idea of a mate, setting the stage for another pyrotechnic creation scene that gives us the unforgettable Bride of Frankenstein.

The cinematography, musical score, and basically everything else are well-nigh perfect in this film; despite the ridiculous editing demands of the censors, Bride of Frankenstein achieves the pinnacle of monster movie success. Still, it bothers me that these films have defined Frankenstein's monster as a creature much different than the literary monster of Mary Shelley's creation. The first film completely stood Shelley's story on its head, missing the point entirely. How ironic it is for Bride of Frankenstein to feature a prologue featuring the character of Mary Shelley herself, in company with her companion Percy Bysse Shelley and the flamboyant Lord Byron, explaining the meaning of her work and then introducing yet another bastardization of the real Mary Shelley's literary masterpiece. The original monster, as envisioned by Shelley, was not the creature at all; it was Dr. Frankenstein, not so much because he played God but because he abandoned his monstrous creation and left him alone to fend for himself. Bride of Frankenstein rights some of this wrong by showing the depth of humanity in the monster, but it cannot undo the wrongs already done the character. In the context of the cinema, he will forever be a "monster," a shadow of his true literary self, forced to suffer at the hands of man while the true villain of the story fails to even attempt to redeem himself or to suffer the harsh yet noble fate that he so rightfully earned in Shelley's original story.

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"Bride of Frankenstein" is not only the greatest film of its genre, it is also one of the finest films ever produced in Hollywood. The acting, lighting, sets and direction are all in a class of their own. The mix of horror and humor has never been so well accomplished as it is in this film. Director James Whale's sardonic sense of humor is in full view here, so much so that audiences of 1935 were unsure as to the intent of the film, especially after the all out horror that was on

display in the original "Frankenstein". Karloff gives the performance of his career as the misshapen but strangely loveable monster, and Ernest Thesiger is astounding as the effete Dr. Pretorious. Elsa Lanchester is stunning as the Bride, and Colin Clive is at his nerve frayed best as Baron Henry Frankenstein. Franz Waxman's score, an inspiration for Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific(believe it or not, is perhaps the finest in the history of motion picture scoring. The DVD is a mixed blessing. The washed out quality of the previous video incarnations gives way here to a much darker film, ccloser in intent to Whale's vision. But the film stock used is slightly grainy, and the sound has ssome deficiencies. Also, the darker print makes it more difficult to see details in the many low lit situations. No doubt a major restoration of this film is in order, similiar to what was done to "Vertigo" and "My Fair LAdy". The extras-the documentary and audio commentary are superb, as is a rarely seen trailer and a great archive of rare stills. The minor visual and aural shortcomings are forgivable; you must own this DVD.

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King Of New York (1990)

KING OF NEW YORK is, for my money, the most valuable (and the most underrated) film of the last 20 years. It is a homage to the classic American genre the gangster fable with the depth and subtext of a European art-movie. It's a precursor to urban crime thrillers like New Jack City and Menace II Society (Ferrara points out they first used a rap-score in 1982). An ode to drug-culture. A pitchblack satire of capitalism and its grotesque fallout. It's got a cast to die for, and a close-knit crew at the height of their powers.

It's shot across an array of locations including Sing-Sing, Donald Trump's Plaza Hotel, and various crack-lanes; it weaves seamlessly between an original score, and the music of Vivaldi and Schooly D; the film is meticulously colour-coded (as pointed out by Nick Johnstone in his book) to add up to a cold critique of the red WHITE and blue, the all-American war-on-drugs; the tempo is expertly-managed, the movie simmers for a while then explodes into heavy-metal carnage, and then it dies with a sad whimper. The film is spectacularly violent, but think about the handling of the violence. There's a big Peckinpah slo-mo shootout, then the audacious shootout in Chinatown. But in the 2nd half of the movie the deaths are direct, painful to watch, and pitiful in their execution.

And then there's the cast: Walken was never better. He mesmirises you, brilliantly charismatic. And he looks so otherworldy, what with the hair and the deathly complexion, he's like the man who fell to Earth, the oddest looking `hero' you've ever seen. Fishburne reinvented a character imagined for James Russo and the whole movie turns on that transition. Its simply impossible to imagine how it could have worked ½ as well with Russo, or any1 else for that matter. Caruso is a fire-engine red ball of rage. The scene when he rushes from his colleagues funeral is one of the most beautifully played-out expressions of vigilantism ever put on film. Argo as a weary, deflated, pill-poppin' `old man' who has been there and knows the war is unwise and un-win-able.

As far as Im concerned, every sequence, every line of dialogue ("I'm not the problem, I'm just a businessman") is pure gold. Ferrara's is the cult-of-cults, his movies usually too far-out or nihilistic to get much of a following. But this one I bet Tarantino wishes he'd made.

And the DVD package...The documentary is not comprehensive, but it re-enforces what sets Ferrara's films above those of most of his contemporaries, the sheer degree of collaboration involved. Abe's anarchist mentality has freed up guys like Joe Delia (music), Anthony Redman (editor), Charles Lagola (production design) and Ken Kelsch to make exactly the sort of films they want. Kelsch makes the most telling statement towards the end, which might explain why Ferrara hasn't made a film for about five years (after a Woody Allen-esque burst of creativity in the 90s). In fact, as basic as it is, the doco is startlingly honest and revealing about its subject.

Ferrara previously contributed a delirious commentary to The Driller Killer, but this time round you kinda feel sad listening to his hazy lack of insight, having the suspicion that his personal curse has robbed him of both his allies and his inspiration at the moment when he's finally getting his dues. But the commentary track is actually a blast! Abel and his best-mate Frankie crack open a few brews, he makes some funny asides about Walken's hair and the reaction to the film on release. And if you get to the credits, you get to listen to Abel bang out Schooly's title-track on an acoustic guitar with a Dylan drawl.

Check out the title card on the trailer. Under the title it reads (a Ferrara / St. John original), like the credits on the label of a 45" record. Like Mick and Keef, or Scorsese and Schrader, these guys made dynamite 2gether. KONY is their towering achievement, it's one of the great films ever made.

Some way into Abel Ferrara's 'King Of New York', two gangsters conspire in a small cinema showing F.W. Murnau's 1922 horror classic 'Nosferatu'. Playing the scene where the vampire disembarks his corpseand rat-ridden ship docked in England, it has clear reference to Ferrara's protagonist, Frank White (Christopher Walken in one of cinema's great, mercurial performances), a drug-smuggler recently released from a long period in prison, hoping to reassert his local criminal power. White refers to his return as 'coming back from the dead', and Walken's long, haunted figure and dancer's movements have some of the aristocratic grace of a famous screen Dracula, Christopher Lee. Mostly seen at night, he gathers new recruits (fresh blood) around him to 'feed' on. One remarkable shot, after a prolonged sequence of speedy violence, has him lit so his eyes shine like some haunted undead; another has the camera following him through a railway station until it is stopped by bars it can only impotently watch as White glides up the stairs to be swallowed by the night. The film even has as one of his opponents a cop played by future vampire-slayer Wesley Snipes.

But the 'Nosferatu' allusion points to something else Ferrara's strange absorption of silent cinema. In terms of content, 'King' is a gangster film like any other: loud, ugly, violent, brutal, lurid, hysterical. But it has a purity and beauty very different from the stylised melodramas of Martin Scorcese, whose equally bloodthirsty 'Goodfellas' came out in the same year. The first ten minutes is an astonishing, virtually wordless, visual tour-de-force, not simply presenting the main character, his situation and environment, but introducing symbolic motifs that are all the more powerful for being real, a part of Frank's world, and not simply imposed. Bars and grids (in prison, gates, bridges etc.) are the most prominent, signifying initially Frank's literal imprisonment, then his difficulties with the law and fellow criminals, and his frustrated ambitions (including a Guiliani-like zero-tolerance programme to clean up the streets), but eventually, as we might expect from a Ferrara littering his film with religious iconography, something much more metaphysical, outside the confines of genre (hence the references to Melville).

After this, there is a lot of talk noisy, profane, funny, aggressive, threatening but the best sequences retain this silent aesthetic: the night-club double cross leading to a car chase and man-hunt under a bridge; a police funeral in which a limousine hit provokes the scattering of black-clad, bankside mourners; the 'Le Samourai'-like subway confrontation between gangster and cop [although the film's very greatest scene, Larry Fishburne's Jimmy Jump ordering fast food just before being busted for murder, depends for its effect on the conflict between talk and silence, his bluster oblivious to the soundless arrests playing out behind him]. The use of huge, intense close-ups recall the emotional silent era, as does Ferrara's camerawork, more deliberate and heavy than Scorcese's flash pyrotechnics. The staging of set-pieces is as artifical as Murnau's setscapes in 'Sunrise'; the underworld carnival is more Celine than Scorcese. Even the use of blue filter in key scenes is less a signifier of atmosphere or artifice than a nod to the practise of 'colorising' monochrome silents.

By employing this style from a period he clearly loves, Ferrara is able to inject a spirituality and ceremonial gravitas not immediately apparent in the crudity of the genre subject.

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Frank White (Christopher Walken) is a crime boss just released from prison. He rejoins his henchmen, headed up by Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne). No sooner does White step out of prison, that the killing games begin. White is out to finance a local inner city hospital that is on the verge of being closed for lack of funding. He is determined to do this by using the ill gotten gains of drug trafficking, his and that of other drug lords. Since the others apparently will not relinguish the money voluntarily, force is used, quite a bit of it as a matter of fact, to get their money and/or drugs.

Officers Dennis Gilley (David Caruso) and Thomas Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) are part of a team of cops that are looking to stop White. They are outraged that he is on the street and that they are seemingly unable to stop him by fair means. They decide to resort to foul means and end up all the worse for their efforts. Throughout the film, the line is sometimes blurred between the good guys and the bad guys. There is no happy ending here, and justice may or may not be deemed to have been served, depending upon the viewer's own subjective viewpoint.

The performances are good overall, and in particular, Fishburne's manic character, Jimmy Jump, is a good foil for Walker's coolly detached character, Frank White. This is not really a character driven movie, however, but rather a plot driven one. There is a lot of action, a lot of shootings and carnage, and some car chase scenes that will keep the viewer on edge. The violence, when it occurs, is bloody and protracted. Moreover, in addition to being bimbos and sex toys, the women also pack high powered heat and shoot with the best of them. Despite some plot holes, the film entertains, though just how entertaining the viewer will find this film will depend on the viewer's tolerance for violence.

The DVD itself is pretty much no frills, offering pretty standard features, such as widescreen, a theatrical trailer, scene access, and a music video. There is no commentary. The picture, though dark, is clear, as is the sound.

Read Best Reviews of King Of New York (1990) Here

Scarface is the greatest gangster movie ever made. This one is second. King of New York is one of the most underrated movies of all time. To begin with, if you really sit back and look at all of the actors in this movie, there is no way in this day and age you could assemble a greater cast. King of New York features Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, and Wesley Snipes before most of them were truly famous.

This is one of those movies that I found myself watching over and over again, in fact when I was a teenager I watched this film once a day. I now have to limit my viewing to once a year so I do not ruin it and it still remains fresh, although I'm not sure how fresh a movie can be when you have the full dialog memorized.

The story is about a New York drug lord named Frank White (yes, this is the same Frank White that the Notorious BIG and other rappers refer to in their rhymes.) played by Christopher Walken who is let out of prison after serving 5 years. Once out of prison White is determined to make up for lost time and to continue to build his cartel and ultimately use money to fund hospitals and make the city of New York better. He teams up with his former workers led by high strung and insane Jimmy Jump and unforgettable character played by Laurence Fishburne (Larry at the time) who wields to 9 mili's and a sinister laugh when the stuff hits the fan.

David Caruso, Wesley Snipes and highly underrated Victor Argo play cops who are outraged by Whites release from prison and are so determined to get him back in that they will do anything to make sure White and his crew are off the street one way or the other.

This is a highly dramatic, riveting, and action packed film that will blow even the most jaded movie watchers away. I cannot say enough about this film, it is a must own and an all time classic. In its truest form it is a B movie, however it ranks up there with Scarface, the God Father and Goodfellas. Imagine what could have happened if this movie had a true Holly Wood budget! It might just have been the greatest film ever made and it is my all time #1 favorite film. A true masterpiece.

"I'm not your problem, I'm just a business man."

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Christopher Walken plays Frank White, a druglord, murderer, and thief who has just been released from prison. He seems to be a powerful man who is also very well off. He is also on the radar of a gang of close freinds who happen to be police officers. Frank seems to be more at home in the ghetto than he does in his high-rise apartment. That much is clear. What is also clear is that his primary motivation for doing the things he does is to keep dishonest criminals at bay and to make enough money to fund a hospital in an underpriviledged part of town to keep it from closing.

The motivation of the police officers, however, seems to only involve doing their job.

Why I love movies like this is that we've all seen the cops and robbers story a million times. What we don't usually see in movies is that sometimes the line between cop and robber is very thin. In this movie, both groups are portrayed as almost the same type of character. They're all drunk on the power that their lifestyles afford them, and they all use bullets to get their way.

There really isn't much to say about this movie except that it's very realistic to my way of thinking, and it doesn't insult the viewer by portraying a black and white view of the world by favoring one way over the other. Everyone is selfish, and everyone is out to get their way. If anything, I found myself siding with Frank for most of the film.

I like that.

I like that I can watch a character on the screen that I have no realistic attachment to and feel for them. I like that I can look at the "bad guy" and know, if not completely identify with, why he does what he does.

This is not a movie for those of you who get uncomfortable hearing points of view you're not used to.

This is for open-minded viewers only.

Forget about good vs. bad. This is every man for himself, and it's one of my favorite movies of the genre.

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Ray (Blu-ray + DVD) (2004)

This is a very good movie that houses an exceptionally great performance by Jamie Fox as music legend Ray Charles. I must confess that as a genre, the biopic is not my favorite, especially of figures as well known as Ray Charles. We usually receive in such films distorted portraits of them, or undeserved adulation. RAY is one of the more balanced biopics I have seen. Ray Charles is presented as a musical genius who had managed to overcome physical disabilities that would have stopped most others, but it doesn't attempt to mute the serious and unflattering personal moral problems he had with drugs and his exploitative treatment of women. Nor is he revealed as a moral saint or loving person. Though pleasant with others for the most part, Ray is shown as a proud, independent, and slightly self-absorbed, a bit selfish in his treatment of women. As a result, Ray Charles emerges in the film as a believable human being, capable of unfortunate decisions, but also extraordinary music and the occasional powerful moral stand, such as when he refuses to perform in a racially segregated crowd in a venue in Georgia. In fact, the film is built around three foci: his early childhood when he witnessed the death of his younger brother and gradually lost his sight; his musical career from 1948 until the mid-1960s; and his heroin addiction. The film ends with his overcoming his heroin addiction, which also-as numerous music critics have noted--corresponds to the end of the peak of his career as a creative musical performer. Charles continued to make albums after getting off heroin, but all of the great songs that we associate with him were written and recorded while on heroin. For the last forty years of his career, his sets consisted almost entirely of songs he made famous in the fifties and early sixties, with covers of songs by other musicians. There has been a long debate as to whether his addiction somehow aided his musical creativity, but even if so, no one would have wished him to continue to endanger his health and life.

Jamie Fox will without any possible doubt receive an Oscar nomination for this performance. This is considerably more than a good impersonation of Charles: it is almost as if Fox channels him. As much as I loved other biopics of music legends like THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY or WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, throughout each I was conscious that Gary Busey was playing Buddy Holly and Angela Bassett playing Tina Turner. I completely forgot that Jamie Fox was playing Ray Charles, and despite being quite familiar with him, imagined that I was actually watching Charles onscreen. Yes, he does a killer impersonation of Charles, but he manages that first on top of that provides an amazing dramatic performance. This is great acting, not merely a great impersonation. The only performance of recent years of an actor portraying a prominent entertainer as superb as this is Robert Downey in CHAPLIN.

I also really loved the look of the film. Since it ended in the mid-1960s, the entire film was essentially a period film. There was a sense of visual veracity from beginning to end. I loved the cars, the clothes (especially the ties! am I alone in thinking that the 1950s was the great decade for neckties?), the interior decors, the furniture. The scenes in the shanty town where Charles was a child were very effective.

The cast aside from Fox was quite strong, made up mainly of relatively unknown performers. There were many other things to enjoy about the film. Of course, the music is absolutely sensational, consisting either of remasters of original Ray Charles's recordings, or new recordings for which Charles provided the vocals. I also loved the relationship in the film between Charles and Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records. There is nothing of the stereotypical relationship between artist and executives that invests so many of the stories of musicians in the 1950s and 1960s. Ertegun is rightfully remembered as one of the truly great figures in the recording industry, someone who was in it more for the music than for the money, and who treated his artists with a degree of respect that was too frequently absent. The film does a good job of presenting Charles's dilemma: ABC-Monument made him an offer that he simply couldn't refuse, yet at the same time we are all aware that Charles was, in a way, screwing Atlantic over by leaving them for ABC-Monument. All in all, I loved this warts and all approach to the subject matter. There is absolutely no question that Ray Charles was one of the most astonishing performers of the fifties and sixties, and doing all he did despite his blindness is an amazing saga. He truly was a genius, even if he was a somewhat flawed person. But you have to love the way that he managed to overcome his personal shortcomings to become not merely one of the most successful but one of the most beloved musical performers of his age.

I went to see Ray in the theaters last night because my sister suggested it and because I was in a mood to see something "critically acclaimed". For the record, I knew very little about the man and so had very few preconceptions. What I saw made a deep impression in my mind and heart.

Ray Robinson, aka Ray Charles the singer, songwriter and musician, was blind since the age of 7. He had to deal not only with bigotry for his disability but for being black in Georgia before the civil rights movement. Throughout his life many people (both black and white) would try to take advantage of the blind man, ripping him off financially or hoarding his talent for their own gain. Ray had both the blessing and the curse of being a ladies' man, resulting in serial affairs while his wife stayed home and raised their family. It surprised me to learn that he fought an addiction to heroin for well over a decade before finally beating it in the `60s. Nevertheless, Ray carried all this baggage and more through the 40s and 50s as he made a name for himself playing piano in the Country, Jazz, etc. pop music circuits. Eventually of course he rose to become one of the most recognized and beloved musical artists worldwide.

The man that this film showed me was an incredible example of determination, charm and simple human spirit. I have heard others say that Jamie Foxx's acting was so good that they were half-convinced he was channeling Ray Charles' ghost. I'll take their word for it that it was an accurate performance, but regardless, it was also a great performance! Down the line each of the supporting actors was perfectly convincing and real, but none more so than Foxx. I will denounce the Academy if he isn't at least nominated for an Oscar.

The least of Ray's imperfections was his physical blindness --yet he had a powerful gift and the ability to reach into the collective soul of a nation. Over his long career as a musician and songwriter, Ray Charles Robinson created and performed some of the most memorable music to audiences across the country. Your color, age and creed doesn't matter; chances are, you've heard and loved at least one Ray Charles song in your lifetime. We'll never have another like him.

-Andrea, aka Merribelle.

Buy Ray (Blu-ray + DVD) (2004) Now

Does anyone suspect that Helen Keller edited this film?

Shame on the director for allowing the ruination of this great masterpiece in the extended form!

GREAT FILM RUINEDBY BY BAD EDITING.

Here is what others are saying: "The big disappointment for me was buying the Limited Edition version with the extended edition of the movie. 25 minutes of additional footage has been added back in for the extended version. Like someone posted earlier, When viewing the "extended" version my player had to pause every time it went to a "deleted scene." It had to pause again when it went back to the theatrical version. I have other disks in my collection which have extended versions with deleted scenes cut into the film that were done seamlessly.

Not only was there a pause when switching between versions, but many times there was a shift in color cast and certain chapters (18 & 19 for me)of the movie became unwatchable and just froze up. For 30 Bucks I found this to be disgraceful and I will ask Best Buy for either another copy or just get the standard edition..

You have the option to watch either the original version or this extended version. The image quality, color and clarity vary a bit as it cuts between the theatrical version and the deleted scenes. Clearly, this wasn't recut and retimed for this "extended" version. The difference between the finished film and the added scenes are quite noticeable and jarring. A flawed masterpiece, Ray would have been a better film if the 25 minutes of additional footage had been integrated into this DVD in a better fashion than it is. No justice for the consumer, and none for the artists of the film and artist portrayed in the film."

(NOTE TO UNIVERSAL:If you can't do it right,then don't do it at all.)

I know a lot of people had problems with the extended version of the DVD, but it warns you that it might not play well on certain DVD players.

Might not?

How'bout ANY player? And the two second delay seems HUGE, . . . stop action . . . wait then it jumps sometimes forward and sometimes backward UNTIMED!

This is not a review, but more of a rant on my part as a DVD Collector of 1,260+ DVD's. Please view this as an individual opinion on Universal, not on the content of the Film, Ray.

Read Best Reviews of Ray (Blu-ray + DVD) (2004) Here

I like "Ray." The music is strong, using Ray Charles' own tracks for both background and performance shots. The storyline is complex, flashing back to Charles' youth as he reflected on the loss of his eyesight and the death of his brother.

From his days as a child in a poor rural community, through his early days as an unknown musician struggling to get a fair deal, to his mid-career with management problems, affairs, hits, and drugs, and then, finally, as a one of our national heroes, we see Ray Charles in full color.

We learn how he manipulated women, cheated on his wife, became addicted to heroin, found his sound, got his name, and learned to work aggressively as his own musician. He deals with racism at first by avoiding it, and then quickly, takes a harsh stand, shaming the bigots and segregationists. Now, in a state where he was once banned from playing, his work, "Georgia on My Mind" is now the state song.

Biopics of celebrities are difficult to describe because of the chronology required to produce the movies. People don't live out plots written by screenwriters, but lives that have events that do not always make sense. Ray Charles' life didn't always make sense, but he lived it.

We have two views of Ray Charles. One is as a fighter, working hard against adversity to become the musician we now know. The other is as a womanizing addict who used his charm, position and trust of his wife to diminish all that was good about him. He eventually beats the drugs, holds onto his marriage, but these failures brought down my respect of him.

Jamie Foxx never impressed me before this. I found his comedy more off-color than I prefer, and expected that his version of Ray Charles would be mediocre. I heard the hype that his performance was Oscar-worthy, and watched the movie with the eyes of a skeptic. Now, I am impressed.

Jamie Foxx has a new fan. I hope he gets roles that allow him to shine like he does in "Ray."

The DVD for "Ray" adds to the movie. Normally, a DVD brings little extra that is interesting, but watching Jamie Foxx and Ray Charles interact was touching, as was hearing Foxx describe his experience in learning the role. We learn Foxx not only can play piano, but is trained at a high level. Those are his hands on the keys, and not movie magic. He respected Charles and the difficulty of playing an icon, and earned Charles' respect in the process.

Anthony Trendl

editor, HungarianBookstore.com

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I somehow missed this at the movies but I was determined with all the Oscar buzz and hype Jamie Foxx was receiving, that I'd buy it and form my own opinion. I have to give it up for Jamie Foxx, he just didn't play Ray Charles, he practically was Ray Charles. His acting was just absolutely flawless. The supporting cast of Clifton Powell, Regina King, Kelly Washington, Larenz Tate, Bokeem Woodbine, and the newcomer who played his mother (I forgot her name that quick) who's never been in anything outside of a local theatre when discovered, all did a marvelous job as well. I was never a really big Ray Charles fan but I loved the music in the film. However, the big disappointment for me was buying the Limited Edition version with the extended edition of the movie. Like someone posted earlier, When viewing the "extended" version my player had to pause every time it went to a "deleted scene." It had to pause again when it went back to the theatrical version. I have other disks in my collection which have extended versions with deleted scenes cut into the film that were done seamlessly.

Not only was there a pause when switching between versions, but many times there was a shift in color cast and certain chapters (18 & 19 for me)of the movie became unwatchable and just froze up. For 30 Bucks I found this to be disgraceful and I will ask Best Buy for either another copy or just get the standard edition. The special features on Disc 2 were excellent including the uncut performances that were cut short in the original film and the meeting of Foxx and Charles in a studio in 2002 to see if Foxx met Ray's approval (which it obviously did). Foxx is not only a talented actor, but an extremely gifted pianist come to find out. The sky's the limit for this brother and I hope he comes away with the Oscar cuz his performance again was flawless. I'd suggest buying the standard edition just to avoid all the nonsense I had to go through with extended edition. If not for the sorry DVD transfer this would easily been a five star classic. Who knows maybe they'll do like everyone else and come out with another edition with better film transfer. Great Biopic though.

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Summer Wars

If Hayao Miyazaki made a cyberthriller, the result might be something like "Summer Wars." This colorful little anime movie spends most of its run straddling the line between a family reunion comedy and a world war entirely on the web. And the results manage to stir your heart and make you laugh at the same time.

Math nerd Kenji is shocked when popular upperclassman Natsuki asks him to come to her family's country house for the weekend. Unfortunately, he's there under false pretenses -not only is Natsuki claiming that he's her boyfriend, but that he's a wealthy college student at Tokyo U. Yeah, that is inevitably going to backfire.

But something far worse happens when OZ (a crazy hybrid of amazon.com, Facebook, fighting video games and... well, just about everything you can find on the WWW) is hacked -and Kenji is the main suspect.

The truth is actually much more sinister -a horrendous program called Love Machine is devouring OZ user avatars, and is using the computer connections to cause chaos all across the world. When tragedy strikes the family, Kenji inspires them to fight back against Love Machine. But can the family's plan stop the program before it has a chance to take revenge on them?

"Summer Wars" isn't really like any other movie I've ever seen -it's part cyberthriller, part bittersweet family story, part crazy comedy, and part colorful anime. It starts off as a simple family dramedy, with Kenji getting thrown into Natsuki's eccentric family and dealing with all the baggage they bring with them. Plus, you know he's going to get busted.

But when Love Machine appears, the stakes are suddenly the technological safety of the ENTIRE WORLD. So we get a wild, crazy guerilla cyberwarefare (involving a boat, a giant computer, an army truck and lots of ice!) as the family (plus Kenji) unites to battle Love Machine. At the same time, the writer maintains the focus on the eccentric family, their grudges, and their unique personalities.

Plus, the animation for this movie is SPELLBINDING. The "real world" stuff is rendered in traditional hand-drawn anime, but the scenes set in OZ are brilliant, surreal, colorful and dreamlike. Whole civilizations on shelves, crowned whales, floating islands, stacked sports stadia, and endless chambers filled with strange little creatures.

And all the characters are very well-fleshed-out. Kenji is a nice, rather socially inept guy with epic math skills, and Natsuki is a strong young girl who finds herself with the weight of the ENTIRE PLANET on her shoulders. The entire cast is well-developed -from the stately grandmother to the idiot cousin who doesn't know what's going on -but one of the best is Kazuma, a 13-year-old kung-fu expert/computer nerd.

"Summer Wars" may start small, but it quickly grows to the epic size of the World Wide Web itself. Even better: it's funny, heartwarming and all-around engrossing.

Or is it the other way around?

Reminiscent of American movies like "War Games," as well as anime greats like "Spirited Away," this movie blends suspense, comedy, family, and a touch of romance in an expert mixture that is fun and heartwarming.

Kenji is a math genius with no self-confidence and, in his opinion, nothing else he is good at, especially when it comes to the fairer sex. He is spending his summer break working in tech support for the mega-giant, all pervading social networking site Oz when the girl of his dreams, the popular upperclassmen Natsuki, asks if he can work for her over the summer. The job is simple, she says. He just needs to accompany her on a trip to her Grandmother's house for a family reunion and do whatever odd jobs are needed to help out her big family. When it turns out that the real job is to pretend to be her fiancé, he balks at first. After all, he has never even taken a girl on a date, let alone gotten serious enough to be engaged! (My perception is that he was thinking that he can't pretend to be in love with someone that he has loved from afar for years!) But he agrees to go along with the ruse with some gentle pleading by the pretty Natsuki. When an AI cyber-terrorist attacks Oz using Kenji's avatar, most everything hits the fan. But Natsuki's large, eccentric family mobilizes, with inspiration from the matriarch and an extra push from Kenji himself, and works to counter this threat to the world, since much of the real world's infrastructure is routed through Oz, and Oz is being eaten by the AI. Can a math geek, a middle school fighting game expert, and a beautiful, self confident young woman save the world? Watch this masterpiece by Mamoru Hosoda, the director of the stunning "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," and find the answer.

The BluRay is well presented, with easy to use menus and stunning graphics. The background art, both in and out of Oz, is breathtaking art in it own right. The character designs in the real world are natural and effective. The Oz avatars are cute, but have amazing capacity for creepiness and emotional expression. The English dub cast, comprised of veteran voice actors like Brina Palencia, Michael Sinternicklaas, Todd Haberkorn, and J. Michael Tatum, do a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life. Many big name anime films use big name actors instead of professional voice actors, and the dubs frequently suffer because of it. "Summer Wars" does not fall into that trap. The dub script is well wrought, with extremely natural turns of phrase and an excellent "lip flap" match, so much so that it is hard to tell that it isn't the original language of the film. There were a few spots were on-screen kanji were not translated that would have been helpful, but other than that, the localization is extremely well done.

In short, I highly recommend this film to young and old, anime fans or not! It is more than an anime film, it is a great story!

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I received my preorder of this DVD the other day, and I'm thoroughly delighted with it. Having seen the original Japanese version, I was pleased to see that the localization to English was well done. The dubbing is good, the translation natural, and the voices match to the originals quite well. There are subtitles in a few places where necessary. You get art cards showing the Oz avatars of the main characters, which are quite nice. And the extras (interviews with voice artists and original commercials for the movie) are good too. Besides being a great story in its own right, this'll be the perfect DVD for me to share with family and friends to help them understand what this crazy anime hobby of mine is all about.

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I love Madhouse. The Studio has produced some of the best anime to come out of Japan in the last decade, including the recent "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". Much of that team re-assembled to put together the ambitious "Summer Wars". The result?

I was entertained and disappointed. I felt moments of "wow, that's storytelling" and stretches of "that doesn't make sense". I was impressed by creative plot twists and turns that ultimately wound up in all-too-familiar territory.

One thing I found was that two dozen one-dimensional characters didn't engage me in the least, but I would have sat and listened to the wisdom and life stories of the family matriarch for hours on end. Unfortunately, even the main players -whom I found really interesting, or bold, or mysterious at first -evolved into stick figure shadows of themselves by the end of the film.

Hosoda's attempt to create a sort of anime version of "Nicholas Nickleby" is daring, and I admire the effort. I couldn't escape the film without wanting to "tweak" it here and there, to temper its extremes and make its deus-ex-machina moments a little more plausible. It was as if the writers wanted it to be a slice-of-life fantasy with romantic elements and martial arts combat mixed in with deep historical roots set in a William Gibson-esque landscape -and the whole thing collapsed under its own weight.

So, I was less impressed by this than other Madhouse productions. I wanted to really like this film, but instead came away with melancholy feelings of what might-have-been.

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There have been many excellent reviews written about Summer Wars already, but as a member of a family that does not frequently watch Japanese animation I have an obligation to let people know that this is not a niche film. Summer Wars, like all great animation, succeeds on many levels. It has stunning visuals, an excellent and intriguing story, (that's not hard to follow despite it being largely set in cyberspace) and excellent characters. The story is about a family, but, unlike so many animated films, the family doesn't take a backseat to the story--it IS the story. It's amazing to watch a realistically depicted (although delightfully quirky) family reunion transform into a show of touching family resolve that will ultimately inspire viewers both young and old. I highly recommend Summer Wars to be viewed as a family or, of course, by any lovers of animation.

One last thing I have to add. The Jinnouchi family's matriarch, Sakae, is the true star of this film. She is a character that you will not soon forget. Satoko Okudera, the screenwriter of Summer Wars, manages to bring to Japanese cinema an elderly woman that demands respect for her both her wisdom and her bravery.

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Transformers (2007)

For a nerd that used to drool over this show as a kid, this movie hooks you from the very beginning. From Optimus Prime's summary intro (with Peter Cullen still at the helm of our favorite alien semi) to the Decipticon attack on the military base, you have no doubts that this is Transformers. Shia LaBeouf makes his entrance and proves the perfect part for this movie. He's actually pretty funny and acts the part well. As far as the rest of the humans in this cast, not as much can be said.

After the awesome introduction, the first part of the movie deals mainly with Shia LaBeouf's Sam purchasing a Camaro that actually turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee (in the cartoon, originally a VW Bug. I think the yellow VW Bug in the car lot next to Bumblebee was a homage.) Sam unknowingly uses his alien car to impress a girl. Of course she actually is impressed when they find out it's an alien. There are some pretty funny scenes in this part of the movie as well as some action scenes that are very well done.

Soon comes the arrival of the other Autobots and they reveal to Sam their true purpose, which is to locate the Allspark -a powerful device capable of transforming a planetbefore the Decepticons get a hold of it. I thought at this point that the slow parts of the movie were over, but not quite. From here we go into a few too many scenes dealing with side characters, from video game playing computer experts to goofy secret agents whose quirks border slapstick comedy. Too many of these characters could be chalked up as comic relief, and most of what they attributed was not very funny. There was a slightly funny but overly long scene where Sam was trying to hide the autobots while he searched through his house for a relic they needed. And then arrived John Turtorro (playing the said goofy secret agent) whom I love, but who severely overstayed him welcome in this. Other performances, namely John Voight's, were just plain campy and the cookie cutter dialogue was cringe inducing at times.

Luckily, I forgot most of that by the time the movie got to its last act. Once the Decepticons arrive in force the movie is a non stop ride of action and jaw dropping effects. While someone who's not familiar with the characters and story might not care what the outcome is, I found myself with memories as a kid, watching the 1986 movie for the first time. I forgot about the humans and their ho-hum sotrylines as my favorite characters and toys from my childhood crashed and shot and ripped each other apart. I forgot that I was watching CG effects as the transformers look as real as the environment they're destroying. The action scenes are larger than life and I'm amazed at how well the battles of the cartoons translated onto big screen. The transformers themselves were all very well done, applying actual physics to their transformations and robot appearances. They look real and modern but don't lose the heart of what the fanboys loved about them from back in the day. And Hugo Weaving as Megatron was genius. I missed hearing the original Starcream, but the original voice actor died many years ago, and the two or three lines Starcream had in this sounded suitable.

Despite the great flaws in acting, dialogue and script, I left this movie with that rare itch to want to go straight back inside and watch it again. From the previews, it looked like the movie was going to take a realistic perspective and show the warring alien machines from a human point of view. But that's really not the case at all. In every other Michael Bay movie, the corny dialogue and overdramatic characters ruin an otherwise good premise. But Transformers is based on a cartoon, so why shouldn't the movie feel like one? Here it works. It's big, dumb nostalgic fun that the kid in me has been after for 20 years.

Maybe it's not the best movie as far as dialogue goes, but for being an action movie about robots from outer space, it's good. The transformations are good enough to not raise doubt about the mechanics of them (which is good for me as an aerospace engineer, because I tend to notice these things). This is the kind of movie that makes large HD televisions and high-quality sound systems worth having.

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When you go to see a movie like this you are not going to see oscar quality acting. You are going to see fantastic visuals great sound and a lot of stuff blow up. This blu-ray has every thing you need to show off your home theater. Perfect 1080p and flawless 5.1 dolby true hd sound.

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Pretty much almost every male kid who grew up during the 80's were glued to their TV sets on weekday afternoons watching just one thing. They were watching one of the best cartoon shows on TV which also happened to be Hasbro Toys' most popular line of toys at that time. I am talking about Transformers. I know I was pretty much hooked on the show with its tale of good versus evil as the noble leader (who also happened to be a Mack truck) Optimus Prime led his Autobots against the evil robot that was Megatron and his Decepticons. It had lots of fighting, explosions and most of all, it had toys of every Transformer in the show for kids to re-enact such battles.

In 1986 the first Transformers movie (animated) came out and pretty much scarred every kid who was ever a fan of the show for life as their beloved characters actually died on-screen to make way for a new generation of Transformers. Let's just say that as much as I enjoyed the original movie I also hated it. It is now 2007 and Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and ILM have concocted a live-action version of Transformers. To say that this movie has erased some of the bad taste left by the first animated film is quite an understatement. What we have in this live-action Transformers is nothing less than pure robot-versus-robot carnage and mayhem done so well that it more than makes up for the weak story and the uneven performances from the cast.

The movie revolves around the search by both the Autobots and the Decepticons for the all-powerful AllSpark which would grant it's owner the power to rebuild the dying Cybertron (home world of the Transformers) or remake any planet into a new home. It's not too difficult to figure out what the Decepticons and their leader Megatron would do once they have it in their possession. As one of the Decepticons would have stencilled on its vehicle mode says: "To punish and enslave". The AllSpark is really just a MacGuffin which helps tie in the Transformers with the human aspect of the story and that's the time tested tale of a boy and his car. In this case, it's Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his newly acquired 1974 Camaro who also happens to be the Autobot Bumblebee unbeknownst to him.

The first third of the film is where this boy and his car theme gets the most laugh as Sam tries to use his new car to get the attention of one Mikaela (played by the ridiculously hot and appropriately named Megan Fox). The laughs come from Bumblebee playing just the right song over the radio to try and bring the two kids together. Usually Michael Bay's handle on comedy is a tad more cynical and ham-handed which tell me the first third of this film had Steven Spielberg's influence all over it. One could just substitute E.T. for Bumblebee and Elliott for Sam and it's not difficult to see.

This first third also solidifies Shia LaBeouf as the foundation which keeps the movie from just becoming one long robot-on-robot action scene. This kid has some major talent and charisma which shows from the moment he steps on to the screen right up to the final scene with the sun setting in the background. It's no wonder Spielberg chose him to be in the next Indiana Jones movie. LaBeouf actually makes Sam Witwicky more than the awkward, geeky teen geek and instead makes it believable that he has a weird, charming chance to land the hot Mikaela. It's LaBeouf's performance as Saw which pretty much saves the very uneven performance by the rest of the cast.

Even with LaBeouf's performance and the funny and cute boy meets car meets girl first reel, people really went to see this movie for one thing and one thing only and that's the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The humans are there to ground the story in a semblance of reality. But once the two sides begin to arrive and find their Earth forms the movie shifts into nitrous-injected overdrive and doesn't let up until the very end. People cheered wildly once Optimus Prime appears for the first time with the rest of his crew (Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet). The cheering went especially wild once optimus spoke for the first time and the original voice was heard (Peter Cullen did the voice for the original cartoon and was hired to do the same for the moive). That scene really brought myself and, most likely, every male in the audience of the same age back 20 years. The Decepticons make their entrance soon after with Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) being the final Transformer to hit the screen. The rest of the movie became one long action sequence after sequence with destruction being the norm.

This is where Michael Bay's hand truly shows as his handle on the sturm und drang he's well-known for matches well with the premise of giant alien robots fighting each other with no thought for collateral damage to populace and property. Unlike, his previous films he actually holds himself back from using his usual tricks of using low-angled slo-mo scenes too much and the ultra quick editing style which makes his movies sometimes difficult to keep up with. Again, it might be Spielberg's influence in addition to Bay actually growing as a filmmaker to thank for this. The action scenes wouldn't be as great as it was if it wasn't for the work of ILM and its team of computer animators. The Autobots and Decepticons look so real that they join Gollum and Davey Jones as fully-realized CGI-characters who blend into the scene as if they're made of real flesh and blood. In the case of the Transformers made of steel, oil and rubber. Their battles from the Hoover Dam all the way to the nearby Mission City didn't look artificial. There's a sense of weight and depth to the battle. It atually looked like the city with it's small humans was actually being ripped apart by these giant robots. Industrial, Light and Magic truly deserve every award they'll get come awards time. In the past it was said that a live-action Transformers would come off as cheesy and fake, but technology and the expert use of it by ILM's team of artisans has made it a reality.

Transformers really brings the word blockbuster and brings it like storm and thunder. There's no other way to say it than this was a movie which was a kickass rollercoaster ride with just enough human interaction to keep it from becoming cartoonish. It's not a perfect film as the weak script and uneven performances by most of the cast would show, but it's all balanced out by the work put in by Shia LaBeouf and the action scenes with the Transformers that this movie marks the highlight of the 2007 summer blockbuster season. Michael Bay has finally found the one film he looks to be tailor-made to do.

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Growing up in the 80s, I saw the 1986 Transformers movie in the theaters and recently watched it again, and even though I'm in my late 20s now, the movie holds up remarkably well: it has a good pace, great balance of storylines, well-defined characters, and plenty of action that builds towards a monstrous battle that includes a genuine surprise.

Unfortunately, the Transformers 2007 movie lacks almost all of that. Credit Shia Lebeouf for his role in this movie, because he carries the entire overwrought monster for a good two hours or so, and his ability to do both comedy and drama in a single movie is impressive. And there are many more people here that turn in solid performances, including Megan Fox, his female costar. Beyond that, though, we get a smattering of comedy here and there along with maneuvering, slow reveals, and more buildup, and more, and more until, almost two hours into the movie, we finally see most of the Decepticons, and there is finally a real battle ... which lasts for about 15 minutes.

This movie is big ... very big ... and the final battle has a lot of action (though Bay's direction insures that it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on a lot of the time). Coupled with some very sophomoric humor, the audience here is clear: it's young adolescents, fresh out of being tweens, who still want good action and jokes but crave a bigger storyline and higher stakes.

THE GOOD: Some of the jokes work, and work well. Shia and Megan do a great job in their roles. Seeing Optimus Prime, Jazz, Starscream, and a few other familiar faces gave this Transformers fan a warm feeling.

THE BAD: You see Autobots play glorified hide and seek with Shia's parents, a dog pee on a robot, a robot pee on a person, John Turturro stripped down to an undershirt and boxers, enormous plotholes involving the All-Spark, no Dinobots, no real use of Starscream, a completely anticlimactic battle between Optimus and Megatron that ends in an enormously stupid way, two long hours of build-up for one confusing battle, and to top it all off, Anthony Anderson.

The original Transformers movie was for the fans, then and now. This one's a dull mess that is for the 2007 box office receipts. Rent it, and then buy the original.

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Rob Roy (2011)

(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)Scotland is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and Rob Roy takes full advantage of this. The scenery is appropriately breathtaking and epic, with the camera making huge sweeps of the landscape. A romantic setting for a very romantic figure.

The truth of Rob Roy, like that of any folk hero, is a matter of speculation and debate. Those looking for an adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's book (also fictional) will be disappointed. Scott's book takes place long after the events described in this film with Mary and Rob at the head of an outlaw band. It also stands apart from Braveheart, which takes place about four hundred years earlier, and is an entirely different period of Scottish history.

That being said, Rob Roy is a lovely film with a quiet feel and a personal story. Liam Neeson is perfectly cast as the large, honorable highlander. Tim Roth is every bit his opposite, small and dangerously deceitful. Jessica Lange, Rob's wife Mary, is stoic and strong. All the supporting players give excellent performances, both English and Scottish. The Scottish music is lovely, and the Gaelic song sung at the gathering is captivating.

The duel at the end is one of the best I have seen.

'I could not love thee (Deare) so much,

Lov'd I not Honour more.'

Honor is what this one is all about. When people say 'They don't make movies like that any more', _Rob Roy_ is the kind of movie they have in mind. There are good guys and bad guys; the good guys have honor and the bad guys don't; in the end, honor wins the day, but not without a costly fight.

More concretely: Robert Roy MacGregor, clan leader and cattle herdsman, has borrowed a substantial sum of money from the Marquess of Montrose; Archibald Cunningham, a young acquaintance of the Marquess, has plotted to steal it; the Marquess will take the clan's lands if the debt can't be repaid. The MacGregor is offered a (duplicitous) way out but refuses to compromise his honor.

If that sounds like every Western you've ever seen, that's not a coincidence; director Michael Caton-Jones deliberately approached this film as a Western set in the Scottish Highlands. The story is based on a historical figure who became legendary in eighteenth-century Scotland, but this screen treatment plays very fast and loose with the actual history.

Liam Neeson is imposing and magnificent as the MacGregor, and Jessica Lange is surprisingly effective as his wife Mary (despite some inconsistency of accent). John Hurt and Tim Roth are deliciously malevolent as the pair of effeminate Sassenachs who have it in for our Rob; a more lethal pair of fops has never been seen on the silver screen. The protean Brian Cox appears as the cowardly and treacherous Killearn. And music fans, watch for Karen Matheson, who makes a brief cameo as a singer. (Capercaillie performed much of the soundtrack; that beautiful voice you hear is Matheson's. And by the way, Carter Burwell's soaring score is as gorgeous as the Scottish scenery.)

I don't know anything about swordfighting, but the blade-to-blade stuff in this film is surely some of the best (in a dramatic sense) ever committed to film. All this swashbuckling beats the heck out of the usual Western gunfights.

Unfairly eclipsed by _Braveheart_ (which was released in the same year), _Rob Roy_ is to my tastes a much better movie. This is filmmaking in the grand style.

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Rob Roy, based loosely on the real life Highlander Rob Roy Macgregor, had the bad mistake of Hollywood timing. There must be a lot spy vs spy in Hollywood, industrial secrets being passed around for a price! Ever notice how if one movie company does some genre, then suddenly they all are? Well, someone whispered Mel as doing in man in a skirt drama (Kilt to you Sasunnach!) and suddenly they rushes to do another. With Rob Roy coming out at the same time, it hurt by comparison. Braveheart was a powerhouse tale of one man's fight for Scottish Freedom. Off the bat, you have a difference. Rob Roy was the story of one man's personal fight against wrongs done to him and his family. So the personal tale automatically feels "smaller". Not big battle scenes for Rob Roy. No King for an enemy, just a Scottish Noble, John Graham, Marquis of Montrose (brilliantly played by John Hurt, Ian McShane old RADA roommate!).

Still, despite the automatic comparisons between the two films (both with problems of historical inaccuracies), Rob Roy should be given a stronger look. The acting is without fault. Neeson as Rob is great (who da thunk an Irisher could do such a good Scot!). Eric Stolz, Jessica Lange, Tim Roth (so utterly despicable!) Andrew Keir (5 Million Years to Earth) and Brian Cox (the first Hannibal Lector in Manhunter, a REAL Scot mind you! He did double duty by playing Mel's Uncle in Bravenheart), gives performances that are flawless. The Highland's are filmed in breathtaking beauty, the writing is gritty, sharp with a good idea for detail. Frankly, any film that has Liam "Calling down the Gregor" commends itself to my Scot heart!

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Popular heroes make for great movies this adage has held true since the days of Douglas Fairbanks's "Mark of Zorro" (1920) and "Robin Hood" (1922), and Errol Flynn's representation of the legendary Robin of Locksley 16 years later ("The Adventures of Robin Hood," 1938), and it has been reinforced again and again throughout the years. And whenever we go to see yet another screen version of the life of such a hero, regardless whether based on historic fact or popular lore, we carry certain almost instinctive expectations: the hero is to be honorable and his true love virtuous, there is to be a truly evil villain, and an abundance of sword play and other action. "Rob Roy" delivers on all of these counts; yet, it manages to be much more than a colorful costume piece with a storyline in black and white, and it differs considerably from the type of movie coined ever since the adventures of history's great heroes were first brought to the silver screen.

To begin with, Liam Neeson, in the title role, is not the slim, agile hero with lightning-quick, supple movements we have come to expect after having seen leading men such as Fairbanks, Flynn, Robert Taylor ("Ivanhoe," 1952) and, for that matter, Richard Todd, who portrayed Robert Roy McGregor in the 1953 movie version of this story, after having played the lead in Disney's version of "Robin Hood" a year earlier. No: here, the part of the dazzling and deadly fencing champion goes to Tim Roth, who has the calculating, conceited, blonde-wigged henchman Archibald Cunningham down to absolute perfection you just love to hate him; yet, he never becomes the embodiment of an ueber villain, and it is his utter fallibility as a human being which makes him all the more evil and despicable. The face-offs between Roth and Neeson (particularly their final duel) almost have something of an inverse David vs. Goliath feeling; making Neeson's much taller McGregor look occasionally more than just a bit disadvantaged vis-a-vis the cat-like Cunningham. Here is a hero whose greatest asset, in fencing as in other encounters with an enemy, is not his speed but his intelligence, his strength, and most of all, his undying tenacity.

Similarly, the love story between McGregor and wife Mary (Jessica Lange) is not one between two young lovers: the movie finds the couple well-settled into their marriage with several young sons. Yet, they are deeply in love, a feeling which is only reinforced by the trials and tribulations they have to overcome. The portrayal of proud Mary McGregor, unbending even in utter disgrace, is one of Jessica Lange's strongest performances careerwide, a match to Neeson's McGregor in acting skill as much as in tone, emotion and courage. And filming on location in Scotland brought an authenticity to the movie which even the best cinematography and "Rob Roy" had excellent cinematographers in Karl Walter Lindenlaub and Roger Deakins and costume design (Sandy Powell) alone could not have achieved. Musically, the Scottish highlands' rugged, windswept mountains and cliffs, deep lochs, and endless grey skies are matched perfectly by Carter Burwell's score and Karen Matheson's mournful ceilidhs. Strong supporting performances by John Hurt (Montrose), Andrew Keir (Argyll), Brian Cox (Killearn) and Eric Stoltz (MacDonald) round out an altogether remarkable production.

The movie takes poetic license with a number of key details; for example, the disappearance of the 1000 pounds lent to McGregor by the Marquis of Montrose (in essence, a historic fact; McGregor and the Marquis had dealt with each other in this way several times before) was probably due to the fact that McGregor's agent really did abscond with the money; not due to Killearn's and Cunningham's scheming. But the major elements of McGregor's personal story, as well as the story's historical framework are represented truthfully, taking us back into a Scotland caught between English rule, Jacobites (Scottish loyalists supporting the Stewarts' claim to the throne, like the McGregors and the Duke of Argyll) and rivaling feudal lords. And Liam Neeson, director Michael Caton-Jones and script writer Alan Sharp do an excellent job in portraying the implications of Robert McGregor's personal sense of honor, which not only required him to keep his word once it was given, be it as part of a contract or otherwise, but also forbade him to bear false witness, even at great peril to himself and his family. Because the loss of the money borrowed from Montrose meant much more to the McGregors than a business deal gone bad: as Robert had given his land as security for the money, in 18th century feudal Scotland the loss of the land not only entailed the loss of the family's economic but also that of their tenuous personal freedom, forcing them right back into the outlaw life which their clan had known only too well throughout centuries of rivalry with a powerful clan aligned with the English kings.

1995 was not only the year when Hollywood discovered Scotland's popular heroes this movie and "Braveheart" were released in the same year, much to "Rob Roy"'s undeserved disadvantage it was a year of extremely strong movies overall. Between the in-your-face (or rather, in-your-gut) portrayal of Scotland's 13th century hero William Wallace on the one hand and such stunners as "The Usual Suspects," "Dead Man Walking," "Leaving Las Vegas," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Casino" on the other hand, and despite all critical acclaim, "Rob Roy" was not even nominated in most Oscar categories and other awards. Yet, this rustic, lyrical version of the story of Scotland's Robin Hood (like the outlaw of Sherwood Forest, McGregor hit Montrose where he knew he would hurt him most, by going after his money) has found an undying fan base over the course of the years. I hope it will continue to grow even stronger as the years go by.

Also recommended:

Rob Roy (Oxford World's Classics)

Michael Collins

Braveheart (Special Collector's Edition)

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in History and Legend

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"Rob Roy", released around the same time as the epic "Braveheart", was in a similar vein to the latter, and was eclipsed by it.

If you liked "Braveheart", you should enjoy this movie it doesn't have large gory battle sequences or as many humorous moments, but it has stellar character performances from Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange and Eric Stoltz as the good guys, and equally stellar performances from John Hurt, Brian Cox and especially Tim Roth as the bad guys. Actually, the Archie Cunningham character in "Rob Roy" is probably Tim Roth's best turn as villain ever.

Anyway, my review is for the Blu ray transfer, which is a big improvement over the original DVD release. The opening static splash shot is ominously grainy, but the movie itself looks fine.

For me, the acid test was the dank "castle" (?) scene where we first encounter Roth's character. The original DVD of that dark scene was awash in film noise and looked pretty bad. It is much improved on the Blu release.

Though not as good overall as the Blu release of "Braveheart" (which looks awesome in high def), for the money, "Rob Roy" on Blu is worth the upgrade if you are a fan.

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