Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2010)

'Universal Soldier: Regeneration' finds an aging Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) struggling through behavioral therapy while a scientist sells the UNISOL technology to a terroist group. Helmed by first time director John Hyams, son of director Peter Hyams (timecop, Sudden Death). In this installment, you really get a sense the level of complication that would arise from the events of the first film, both emotionally and socially. "Soldier gets killed in war, body frozen for twenty years only to be brought back to life as a weapon, etc etc." Apparently because the second sequel was so bad and the direction the writer's took Luc Deveraux's character being ridiculous, this one pretty much ignores it. Which really, really works. Van Damme brought kickboxing to America, or at least to Hollywood and while he's always choreographed his own fight scenes; this one takes the cake(and at nearly 50!) The final battle between Lundgren and Jean-Claude here is one of the most brutal, raw, hands down best in years! If it weren't for nostalgia, I'd say this was better than the original...

15 minutes into this, I noticed something strange. I didn't want to turn it off which is pretty rare when talking about most of Van Damme's movies over the past decade. The thing that might kill this movie with some fans though, is that it is so different from the great original. It is not a polished Terminator type action flick like the original was. Director John Hyams' retelling is much grittier and with some of the locations and fights, it almost has more of a Bourne style feeling to it. The action is furiously directed...very quick with no dopey slow motion. The acting isn't great but it's decent and convincing enough...two qualities that have been lacking in recent Van Damme DTV casts. It is true that Van Damme is only sprinkled throughout, but the film is so fast moving, before you know it, you are already at the final 40 minutes ...and he owns the *beep* out of it!! There is a long tracking shot of him tearing up terrorist ass and it's probably the best action sequence he has ever been a part of. It truly gets the heart pounding, and like me, you will probably re-watch it about 10 times. It's also a refreshing blast to see Lundgren on screen even if it is pretty brief. His and JC's fight is completely different from the one in the original. There is no Hollywood gloss to it at all. This is how the fight would be if these two met up and decided to scrap and it comes of very effective. You can feel the anger and rage. All in all, Unisol: Regeneration is a solid little action flick. Other than JCVD, it's easily his best movie since Sudden Death, which happened to be given to us by another Hyams...John's father, Peter. It may not be a masterpiece and isn`t quite on par with the original but it`s still a lot of fun and it`s definitely a worthy addition to my bluray collection. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on director John Hyams. I'd like to see what he can do with a decent budget and some better filming locations. The subtle synth music score was well done too. Think along the lines of Vangelis, who created the Blade Runner soundtrack, or something John Carpenter might have composed back in the day.

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I honestly don't know what I'm more shocked by, the fact that I gave Universal Soldier: Regeneration a chance, or the fact that it turned out to be as good as it is. When a group of terrorists take over the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and threaten to release a radioactive cloud, and with an uber-advanced UniSol (former UFC champ Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski) at their disposal, former, deactivated UniSol Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) gets called back into action. However, there's a surprise in store for Luc, in the form of his once deceased nemesis Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) who has been cloned and reanimated, and looking to bring some pain of his own. While all this sounds like the recipe of a low budget, direct-to-DVD, schlock fest featuring two action stars way past their primes, Universal Soldier: Regeneration ends up surpassing both of the films to come before it, thanks to the great directing from John Hyams, who not only manages to put together some just plain brutal action sequences, but also manages to coax some great performances from Van Damme and Lundgren, as well as take advantage of Arlovski's cold menace. John's father Peter Hyams, who directed Van Damme in 90s actioners Timecop and Sudden Death, serves as the film's cinematographer, and helps give the film the surprisingly great look that it has: this certainly doesn't look like a low budget, direct-to-DVD film. All in all, Universal Soldier: Regeneration deserves a look at the very least, and if and when you do chcek it out, be prepared to be surprised with what you get here.

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With stolen top-secret technology, terrorists have created a next-generation Universal Soldier, an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine. With this "UniSol" Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski leading the way, they seize the crippled Chernobyl nuclear reactor, threatening to unleash a lethal radioactive cloud. The only one who can stop them is Luc Deveraux, a UniSol who's been decommissioned for years. Reactivated and retrained, Deveraux must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed fortress. But inside, he'll discover not one but two of these virtually indestructible warriors. Andrew Scott, Deveraux's vicious UniSol enemy from the original Universal Soldier, has been secretly reanimated and upgraded. Now, these elite fighters are locked, loaded and programmed to kill; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown. In the third and by now the last Universal Soldier series, both Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are back for one last showdown together. Universal Soldier: Regeneration is an enjoyable movie, and leaves you with a sense that it's not over yet.

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The title really says it all. Granted, both Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme aren't really on screen as much as one of their typical films but it really, really works.

The plot is simple but effective. The action is outstanding, ultra violent and rarely stops. And it's not old school action either. There's a taste of the Bourne series in some of these shoot-outs. Big marks for Director Hyams. Can't wait to see what he does next!

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Towanoquon Complete Collection (2012)

Basic Overview:

Centuries ago there were many people who had special abilities but as time progressed their numbers became fewer and fewer. Those people without abilities began to fear those that had abilities. Over time those with abilities became known as the demons and monsters of the mountains and valleys. As the fear grew in those who lacked abilities they began to hunt down those who were different, reducing their numbers even more.

In a futuristic Tokyo, unique human beings who have awakened distinct powers are being hunted by a secret organization named Custos. Known as "Attractors", these exceptional humans are joining forces to defend themselves. They are led by a boy named Quon, an idealist who is determined to save all the Attractors he can.

My Review:

Towanoquon is definitely a must watch anime, it is very engaging, has great character development for the series I've seen recently, and a pretty straight forward type of story telling. The first part of the series will definitely get you hooked but the story tends to speed up a bit and be a little rushed in the last part. Admittedly the last episode has the best quality of art, the others are all quite good as well, just not as good as the last. The last episode is a bit rushed, I admit, but I felt it did have a rather satisfying ending, which I haven't seen much of lately in anime series. Though in retrospect as you watch the series you will notice at the end of a episode/movie there is a tribute to the director at the end of a episode (though I can't remember which one at the moment) as he died of lung cancer, which may have resulted in them ending the series, that could have been longer, before planned.

I've read a lot of places where this has been compared to X-men, and while it is a little like that I think a better comparison for it would probably be Towards the Terra (which the art style reminds of a bit too). It also could compare a bit to Blassreiter, it reminds me of the people with abilities from Towards the Terra having something like a transformation into something like the demoniacs from Blassreiter (not to mention the cyborgs). It is most definitely not for kids, there is plenty of blood, gore, violence and a bit of fan service to go around. I would give the series a 9/10 overall as I enjoyed the story, characters, art and ending.

I would also like to note I watched the dub, though from looking at the Japanese cast I'm sure that track is amazing too, but it wasn't as bad as some I've seen. I didn't notice any spots where they missed the mark, it was very enjoyable as well. They seemed to have done a very good job casting as they voices seemed to match the characters very well. I was rather impressed.

Packaging:

I bought the DVD set (not the blu-ray) which has episodes 1-3 on the first DVD and episodes 4-6 and a commentary for episode 6 on the second DVD from what I remember.

I saw Towanoquon as I was browsing for new anime to watch. I threw it on my preorder list and waited for it to get to me.

As far as the packaging goes, this item came in a typical blu-ray case and contained two discs. The 1st had 4 of the 6 movies on it, while the other had the other 2 movies and some extras. The extras were just your typical clean opening and endings and some commentary.

The show itself was very enjoyable. The action was well done and the plot line kept me interested throughout the entire show. I think the only bad thing I noticed about this show is it reminds me too much of X-men. It has some originality, but most of the basic concepts are repeated.

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Let me start off by saying I did enjoy Towanoquon. It was fun. It had action, some mild comedy, and an engaging story. However, my main problem with the show is the feeling of "been there, done that". All forms of entertainment borrow from previous works but the whole time i felt like i was was watchint X-MEN: THE JAPANESE VERSION. Overall the story is about "Attractors" who are basically mutants. They are people with special abilities. The main character finds newly awaked Attractors and tries to save them before the villians destroy them. He then takes the Attractors/mutants to his Theme park (very reminiscent of Xaviers school for the gifted) and helps the children better understand their abilities and how to use the. Overall the show is fun and not a waste of time. I would never bash the show for being unentertaining just unoriginal. If you are bored and looking for something to watch its not a bad pick up. But if you have a long list of anime you are trying to see you may wanna pass on this one or move it down the line and watch some better shows before this one.

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The show was good and completed itself well, It's nothing amazing but it's definitely worth watching.

The story line it's self was was good but a bit used, that's not a problem but its not the best adaptation of the idea of mutated people with powers being hunted,Killed,discriminated against and experimented on by an origination.That's acceptable cause the action in the show was amazing in this show that kept your eyes glued to the screen.

The packaging was just a normal blu-ray case with two disc containing all 6 films

Japanese audio subtitles optional to turn on or off

And English dub, which wasn't that bad.

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This show is amazing action drama it looks fantastic. It got here 2 days after i bought it so thats the fastest shipment i've received ever not paying for next day or overnight very satisfied!!

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Girl On a Motorcycle: Remastered Edition (1968)

Imagine Diana Rigg joining "Easy Rider's" Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda for a ride across France and Germany and you will have a pretty good idea what "Girl on a Motorcycle" looks like. Made one year before "Easy Rider"; this is an amazing 1960's road movie that includes hip camera angles, groovy music, a leather suit and a Harley Super Glide.

While low-budget, it is not a thrown together "B" Movie but a thoughtful existential trip inside the mind of a flawed character who happens to be a sexy woman. On close examination, what appears to be yet another fruitless examination of the mysteries of female discontent is really a more expansive study of the human condition. Rebecca, the main character, illustrates life as a process of choosing between comfortable security and the need for freedom and excitement; a daily struggle with guilt and its consequent self-destructiveness, and the seductive lure of risk. Motivations familiar to almost all serious motorcycle riders.

In voice-over, Marianne Faithful gives us Rebecca's story in a series of flashbacks, with minimal scenes of conventional dialogue. Most of these work very well although there is a ski weekend flashback about midway through the film that looks more like a travel advertisement than a movie scene. And while much of Jack Cardiff's film is beautifully shot, the action sequences are somewhat clumsy looking and obviously low budget. And there is excessive reliance on the Elvis movie technique of projecting moving scenery(shot by the second unit) with the star pretending to be cruising along the road while actually stationary in the studio.

Cardiff was very creative with the editing and came up with some great match cuts, typically used to bring Faithful out of her frequent flashbacks/dreams. In one we see her lover slowing pulling open the zipper of her suit, then the film cuts to the tread of an Army tank moving past the place where she has been napping by her motorcycle.

Cardiff's technique was quite revolutionary at the time as his camera has a love affair with the leather suit , the motorcycle, and Faithful's eyes. His extensive use of very tight shots is extremely effective and the most pleasing thing about the film.

Faithful is on screen in almost all the scenes and gives a surprisingly good performance. Alain Delon as her lover gets a fair about of screen time (all in flashbacks). I've not been able to take Delon seriously as an actor since his performance as a character named "Baldy" in Dean Martin's "Texas Across the River" in 1966. Plus I get him confused with Jorge Rivero and his almost identical character "Capt. Pierre Cordona aka Frenchy" in "Rio Lobo". Maybe they are the same person and used two names as a tax dodge.

Both the VHS tape and the DVD include a nice stills gallery and a couple trailers.

All in all I recommend this film. It has thoughtful themes and many well-shot scenes. If you like motorcycles, a sexy body in and out of a leather suit, the most beautiful eyes ever, and cute freckles you should view this film.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Rather than suffer her 19th Nervous Breakdown disgruntled housewife Marianne Faithfull (pre-Tom Waits soundalike period) hits the European road gleefully bouncing her robust Brit bottom on her motorbike soon to be coupled with intense Eurohunk Alain Delon.

Our leather-clad goddess wistfully reflects and reminisces about her last year on earth with eye-zapping psychedelic effects. This film would actually play very well in a double-feature with the similarly wild film "Performance".

Note to Marianne: while grinding down the Autobahn on a motorbike at 95 miles an hour it's okay to flap your thighs and bounce your butt but by all means KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!

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Marianne Faithfull is a stunner in her role as discontented young newlywed.

The scenery is gorgeous and her beauty fits right along with it, as she rides from Switzerland to Germany, to see her lover played by Alain Delon, who gave her the bike as a "wedding gift".

He plays a manipulative, ungrateful, unappreciative professor interested in her "free love".

The hallucinatory scenes can be a bit bothersome, but on the whole there is meaning to this film and also the chance to see beautiful Ms Faithfull

fresh, young,so alive and so gorgeously sexy.

See it !

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This is NOT a really good film. It IS amusing and entertaining. The motorcycle scenes are not blue screened, which helps a lot. Marianne Faithful, a former Mick Jagger lover, stars in this, and there are a few naked shots, but nothing to write home about by todays standards. Certainly not enough to earn an "X" rating as it did on release in the US. The sound is nice for mono, and the Harley actually sounds like a Harley, something that you do not always get in movies. There is a lot of pshycadelic footage that may have been really trippy in the 60s, but looks really dated today.

Ms. Faithful is acceptable as an actress, with a running voice-over through much of the film. She isn't great however, and some of the lines make me laugh. When she takes off to go see her lover and cheat on wimpy hubby (think Satan's lover Chris from South Park), she starts the Harley and yells, "I turn myself on!" When I'm riding my own bikes around, this sometimes pops into my head and I yell it out loud (ONLY if wearing a full face helmet) and crack myself up.

There are some nice touches. The film is shot very dark while The Girl is in France where she lives with her husband, but once she enters her lover's country, Germany, everything becomes much more vivid and beautiful. There is also one nice 360 shot of The Girl on the motorcycle. Not exactly Matrix, but still, at least they tried.

The pacing is a little slow, and it seems to last longer than its running time. Its one of those movies (not films) where you can read a magazine while you watch. If you take Girl on a Motorcycle for what it is a fun but dated movie from the 60s it is a nice enough diversion. Compared to better films, even Easy Rider, it is less compelling.

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Forget the love story. If you're a real biker you'll love the flick for the asthetics of motorcycles and the feeling of riding in the wind. It features a very nice Norton and a Harley. This movie will be appreciated by those who lived in the 60's and rode bikes. I highly reccomend this video to all us older bikers!

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Mutiny on the Bounty (2011)

When the news broke that MGM had the audacity to remake the hallowed 1935 classic "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, the critics were aghast. As the news leaked out about trouble in production, they whipped themselves into a self-righteous frenzy. Brando was a lightening rod for criticism because he was renowned as arrogant hothead. Compared with Gable, who was universally loved and adored, Brando was a boor. It was almost sacrilegious to put Brando in any part Gable had played. When the film opened, it never had a chance. It was ripped to shreds. Brando was ridiculed as a lower class character actor who couldn't step up to the part, and derided for his dreadful attempt at an English accent. The film was a box office loser and critics smugly declared they told us so.

The film was beset by problems throughout production. The full-scale replica of the Bounty arrived on location two months after the film was scheduled to begin shooting. There were three deaths among the film's personnel and the film ran well over budget. The biggest problems were the result of Brando's constant temper tantrums as he tried to rewrite the entire film from the set. At least six writers came and went. After countless confrontations, director Carol Reed gave up and quit to be replaced by Lewis Milestone ("All Quiet on the Western Front'). Milestone was an utterly intractable director that Brando couldn't bully. The result was a battle between the immovable object and the irresistible force, with daily emotional pyrotechnics that further delayed the film. Although Milestone usually prevailed in the fracases, this film turned out to be his last in a 37-year career.

Over the years, the critics have continued to pillory the film, but the public generally receives it more favorably as time passes. Though I often disagree with the masses, in this case I concur. Having seen both the 1935 and 1962 versions, I prefer the latter. Gable is clearly more charming and dashing in the role, but Brando gives the more complete performance. Gable's Christian seems far less ruffled by the events that transpire on the Bounty, whereas Brando accomplishes a believable transition from the cavalier rogue to an honorable hero who endures self-torment over the treasonous act. Though Brando's English accent is oft ridiculed, I have heard far worse. Part of the problem probably stemmed from the fact that the accent he attempted to imitate was very upper crust and he delivered it with a certain sneering tone that made it seem like he was mocking the English. Just hearing that accent from the same lips that gave us, "I coulda been a contenda" was a kind of ironic comedy unto itself.

Between the Bligh portrayed by Charles Laughton and that depicted by Trevor Howard in the remake, Howard wins hands down for pure detestability. Most of the production values, such as music, set design and costumes were superior in the remake. Moreover, the remake was more historically accurate than the original.

The film features a youthful Richard Harris in the role of Mills, who gives an excellent performance of the petulant sailor. Also noteworthy is the lovely Tarita, a native Tahitian who plays Christian's love interest Maimiti, and does a scorching belly dance. This was Tarita's only film, but to anyone who has seen the film, she will not be soon forgotten.

This is an excellent film. It was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture, but it was shut out, trampled by "Lawrence of Arabia". It is highly entertaining with wonderful costumes, props and sets, fabulous locations and photography, and some terrific performances. Though many will disagree, I rated it a 10/10. If one can step back from the controversy that swirled around this film when it debuted, it is an easy film to enjoy.

Ok. First things first. Let us not forget that this film is based on the trilogy of books by Charles Nordorff and James Norman Hall. These books are fictional accounts based on actual events, and portray William Bligh as a sadistic, brutal tyrant instead of the accomplished seaman he truly was. After all he was one of the best foul-weather commanders of his day and a navigator of such quality that the charts he drew were still used by the British navy right up until the second world war.

I have read among other reviewers of Bligh's "trademark discipline and lashings". This is just not true. Bligh himself was determined that he would not lose a single member of the ship's crew on his expedition, and in fact, only flogged one man on the outward voyage (an act which he bitterly regretted!).

He was a passionate man, that had risen through the ranks and he was determined to succeed on the mission appointed to him. His only downfall was that he lacked imagination, he was a pedantic man that did everything by the book, this made him inflexible to situations. There was no more a caring individual that attempted to round Cape Horn for 30 days, do you think that a crew that had suffered extreme punishment from the start of their journey would then suffer such grueling conditions for so long and not choose this point to mutiny? It is testiment to Bligh's ability to command tha his men carried on working for him until he decided theirs was a lost cause.

From the time the Bounty landed at Tahiti, Bligh let his men down. He allowed them to carry on for the next 5 months doing whatever they chose, while he isolated himself in scientific studies. If Bligh had mustered his crew regularly and spent time sailing the Pacific whilst his gardeners prepared their cargo, discipline would have been maintained. Ultimately, when the ship Weighed anchor and departed Matavai Bay, complacency and sloth had taken root among the crew. This then would understandably lead to bitterness and resentment for the return to naval discipline.

I have read also, that the mutiny, when it happened, happened very (too) quickly and suddenly in the film. Well, this IS exactly what happened, Christian had decided to escape the ship and his abuser alone and on a makeshift raft. It was only after speaking to Edward Young that he found that there would be others amongst the crew who would be willing to help him seize the ship and return to Tahiti. Thus events were put into place that happened very quickly indeed, events that Christian would bitterly regret for the rest of his life.

This film also suggests that Bligh and Christian were unaquainted before the fateful voyage, this again is not true as they had sailed together on three previous occasions. Richard Hough, in his excellent book, Capt. Bilgh and Mr. Christian, suggests that their relationship could have had undertones of a homosexual nature. This could be quite possible, as it was not uncommon for sailors who were living in such close quarters for long periods of time to look to each other for relief, although the Articles of War forbade it, and anyone found guilty of this "crime" faced the death penalty! It is certainly true that Bligh showed the young Master's Mate a good deal of favouritism, promoting him to Acting Lieutenant after landing at Tenerife. It is also well documented that Bligh frequently invited Christian to his cabin. In fact Bigh had sent an invitation to him on the night before the mutiny, which Christian had declined. It is possible that Bligh had become resentful of Christian's relationship with Isobella (Christian's name for Miamiti, after his aunt), and took his jealousy out on him by humiliating Christian in front of the crew. This would go some way to explain Christian's reapeted cries of "I AM IN HELL!".

It should be noted that Bligh was recognised as a national hero on his retrun to England and absolved of all blame for the loss of his ship. It wasn't until he left again on another voyage that the Courts Martial for the remain mutineers, who had now been bought home,took place and that public opinion started to turn against him, and he began to be portrayed as the tyrant shown in this film. But, it should be remembered that at the time of his death, Bligh ahd reached the rank of Vice Admiral of The Blue, no mean feat for such an "abusive" man!

Brando's Foppish, Arrogant aristocratic picture of Christian is off target. Christian's family were not aristocratic. They were a well-to-do family from Cumberland, but not so high up the social ladder as shown here.

Enjoy this film, I did. But enjoy it for what it is, a fictional tale of adventure on the high seas. Brando is on top form, camping it up in his role (obviously out of the control of the director!), the photography is beautiful as are the locations. The script is engaging and amusing, and the rest of the cast terrific. Trevor Howard's Bligh is a little too one dimensional, but then that is exactly what this picture is trying to show.

I give this film four stars just for the sheer enjotment I got from it. The missing fifth star is for the truth. I won't draw comparisons with the earlier Laughton/Gable film, or the later Hopkins/Gibson film, as they are each enjoyable films in their own right and are definately worth viewing. Although the latter goes a little more for the truth.

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Perhaps that review title's too harsh. I loved the '62 version primarily because of how the extremes of production expense shoved it forward as an all-time great. To understand its power one has to see its standing in relation to the two other versions. The 1935 film has a pre-Errol Flynn swashbuckler ambience that tries to coexist with an overall moodier feel brought on by dour, flat direction. The 1984 movie tries too hard to establish historical correctness while superimposing Mel Gibson's prettiness over the sour conditions underlying the vessel and the voyage. At any rate, these elements take out much of the fun of these versions and, in the latter case, it's even arguable that its weighty atmosphere defuses the thrill of the mutiny altogether. Nothing spectacular in these.

Lewis Milestone directed an infinitely more entertaining affair on the 1962 version. Marlon Brando's attempt at Englishness is thoroughly derisable but we forgive him for it because there's much comic relief to be had in that as well as in the way he spars with Trevor Howard. The crew are alotted more respect by the camera in this film and that freedom yields more entertaining results than the sordid festering they endure to be found in the most recent version.

No. This is a three hour adventure that is fun for all the family. At times funny (echoes of Gilbert and Sullivan drift into my head every once in a while when I watch Brando strutting about on the poop deck), at times poignant, this is maybe the biggest of the giants Metro Goldwyn Mayer committed to celluloid. It's important to keep in mind that studios were still having their honeymoon with Eastman colour 40 years ago and it isn't surprising at all that the tale of the Bounty was selected for a reworking on this grandiose scale. Full of images and sounds that do nothing but please the soul, 'Mutiny on the Bounty' is a masterpiece with no bad actors aboard (Richard Harris is at his best here as the chief fomentor of rebellion 'downstairs'). When viewed from any angle, it's still a dazzling chandelier of a movie. They don't make them like this anymore not because they won't it's simply because the style involved here is out of the reach of any filmmaker or producer alive today. Probably a year or more in the making, the Sixties Bounty film is irrefutably the definitive one and the effects of watching it once are guarranteed to incite many subsequent viewings, not merely to drink up the haunting beauty of the location camera work. This is an essential component of any family's movie collection that must be bought as soon as possible.

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I just can't speak highly enough about this wonderful version of Mutiny On The Bounty. Critics be scorned. What's amazing is the crud leveled at this film and how it's endured all these years diminishing any credit due it. Brando ruined it, was troublesome, difficult to work with, cost MGM lots of $$$; Bunk! I saw this movie for the first time when it came out in '62 and it knocked me off my feet; I was ten yrs old. I appreciate it so much more today as an adult. It's a darn fine movie, take my word for it. The photography is STUNNING, period costumes great, the pagentry and colors of Tahiti take your breath away. They built a replica of the Bounty from the keel up, a feat truly remarkable. The music by Bronislau Kaper is superb and can measure up to that of Lawrence of Arabia, El Cid, King of Kings and Doctor Zhivago any day. The Love Theme is both haunting & Beautiful. The pace of the film flows very well and never once does it drag. Brando & Howard play well off each other. Richard Harris as Mills gives a fine performance along with the other character actors playing the crew. The interplay between Bligh & Christian builds just the right amount of tension. You can feel Fletcher Christian's contempt for Bligh growing more with every scene. The foppish, self centered intellectual suddenly thinking of things greater than himself, being drawn in to see the injustice & cruelty leveled at the crew. Maybe for the first time in his life Christian now knows the difference between right & wrong. He's forced to see that rule books & regulations do not make a captain. Especially one who seems to have nothing but disdain for his crew, beating them like dogs, starving them, stripping away their dignity. Bligh is a man without honor wanting desperately & only to further his own career in the British Navy, no matter who he has to crush or kill to get there. To sail around the Horn in the middle of Winter just to shave a couple of months off the voyage, risking both ship & crew. Depriving men of water in order to water plants. We the viewer are pushed to the edge along with Christian. Brando allows us to witness the smoldering powder keg within him. Then the film grants us relief as we sail & land into Paradise. Humor is put in at just the right places. When Bligh tells Christian to make love to the kings daughter in order not to offend him & Christian makes him squirm doing so, it's hysterical. I'm not sure there was a need for any great acting between Brando & Tarita, who plays the kings daughter, the sparks fly well enough on their own. The Island, the beaches, the sunsets over the ocean are truly magnificent. The native women are sensual innocence & breathtaking. You can plainly see why the crew would never want to leave this Island Paradise. The mutiny is very powerful. Christian is driven to commit this act by continued actions against the crew from Bligh & goaded by Mills; the powder keg explodes. The final scenes with Brando are beautifally acted and I have to say that I am so pleased that the original prologue & epilogue are included here because they are the perfect bookends to the movie. They set and end it wonderfully. Why they were ever taken out to begin with is beyond me. I can only say in closing that this two disc collection is great. The special features include some history, the construction of the Bounty and it's restoration over 30 years later. I would've liked some behind the scenes interviews with cast & crew but that's only a minor swipe. The original overture, intermission & entr' acte are here to make this feel like an old fashioned movie going experience that we don't see anymore. If you have a large flat screen tv & a home entertainment system, be prepared to get knocked off YOUR feet. Amazon is offering you one heck of a package here & at a great price. Don't pass it up!

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Even if this is a very good movie, even if Marlon Brando's Fletcher Christian and Trevor Howard's William Bligh are convincing and very well played, sadly, this movie has almost nothing in commun with the true story.

First thing, Bligh didn't decide to try the Cape Horn route midway thrue the Atlantic crossing, it was planned from the start.

Secondly, Bligh knew Fletcher Christian before the Bounty voyage, in fact, he had sailed with him before and even wished him on board. William Bligh treated his men as well as any Captain in the 1790's maybe even better, having learned from the Great James Cook himself.

The actual mutiny sequence has nothing, but absolutly nothing remotely to do with how it happened. Fletcher Christian, along with 3 other sailors, stormed Bligh sleeping quaters early in the morning and tied his hands behind his back. It was NEVER in reaction to Bligh refusing to give water to a dying sailor. The worst part in my opinion is last 15 minutes of the movie. Completely delirious stuff.

So, if you want to see a good movie, great, you can watch "Mutiny on the Bounty", but be aware that it has nothing to do with the true story. For that, may I recommend Caroline Alexander book "The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty".

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The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960)

Unfortunately, Little Shop of Horrors and every other Roger Corman Filmgroup production lapsed into public domain years ago and have generally been available on VHS and DVD only in poor-quality editions ranging from merely bad to atrocious. (The only Filmgroup features to get a decent official or semi-official release so far are Bucket of Blood, Beast from Haunted Cave, and Night Tide.) After researching every DVD version of Little Shop of Horrors available (there are at least eight!) I played a hunch and went with GoodTimes to replace my VHS copy, and I'm very pleasantly surprised at the overall excellent quality of the source print. When I saw the "preserved using the best available elements" line at the beginning of this disc I thought 'yeah, right,' but I have to admit that this is the brightest, cleanest, sharpest (if not exactly razor-sharp) print of this film I've ever seen. The black level, contrast, gray values, and shadow/highlight detail are fine, and physical damage is limited only to some very light speckling and blemishing (!!). On the downside, the transfer itself seems to be somehow deficient (low bit rate?), causing areas of flat white or smoothly gradated grays in the image to exhibit some very faint but noticeable pixelation or banding, especially during the opening credit sequence (areas of flat color seem to be DVD's Achilles Heel). The casual viewer probably won't notice this phenomenon unless it's pointed out, but it's there. That said, the superior quality of the source print more than makes up for this one barely noticeable flaw; this is still most likely the best edition yet available of this classic 'sick humor' gem and well worth the bargain price. It definitely blows away every TV print and cheapjack PD video version I've ever eyeballed. Grab this before it goes out of print.

The movie itself still entertains tremendously today, a funny, goofy (dare I say charming?) horror-comedy that basically plays like a stage farce (most of the action takes place on one or two sets). The story is essentially a remake of Bucket of Blood with a change in locale and a few fresh twists. This time Jonathan Haze portrays everyschlep Seymour Krelboine, who lives with his alcoholic hypochondriac mother (she listens to KSIK radio) and works at Mushnick's skid row flower shop. Seymour (temporarily) finds fame, fortune, and romance by nurturing (and eventually murdering for) an exotic talking cannibalistic plant. Mel Welles, in his finest hour (literally), steals nearly every scene with his droll portrayal of perpetually exasperated Gravis Mushnick, and Jackie Joseph (Andy Griffith Show, Who's Minding the Mint) seems born to play pretty, ditzy Audrey. Corman regulars adding to the fun include Dick Miller (Walter Paisley in Bucket of Blood) as Fouch, a flower-eating client, John Shaner as a sadistic dentist, and 14th-billed Jack Nicholson (featured prominently on most tape and disc box art) as his masochistic patient. Shot on a shoestring in just three days (at least all the interiors), Little Shop holds up better than many big-budget comedies of the day (anyone watched Story of Mankind lately?). Much credit must be given to Charles B. Griffith, unsung hero/architect of the AIP/Allied Artists/Corman style. His list of credits reads like Corman's greatest hits: It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Undead, Not of This Earth, Teenage Doll, Bucket of Blood, Beast from Haunted Cave, Wild Angels, Death Race 2000, etc. Griffith's clever, witty screenplay is a model of late-50s sick humor, working in a dead-on Dragnet parody, some wonderful malapropisms and bits of wordplay, lotsa Yiddish humor, and a handful of his patented icky-creepy moments. (Griffith also voiced the plant, Audrey Jr., played a few walk-ons, and directed some second unit scenes, all uncredited.) Fred Katz's memorable score is alternately goofy and spy-jazzy, and, unlike some of Roger Corman's other attempts at comedy (e.g. Creature from the Haunted Sea), I find his touch just right here, ably supporting Griffith's verbal bits with complementary editing patterns (check Sgt. Joe Fink and Det. Frank Stoolie's hilarious introductory scene). Lighter in tone and a bit broader and more farcical than Bucket of Blood (which I personally prefer), Little Shop, judged on its own terms, is still fresh and engaging, though the low budget is obvious at times. I'm not sure how fans of the Broadway show or movie musical will react to the original (I admit to being a purist myself), but if they share a taste for low budget horror or 50s-style sick humor they'll probably find it an offbeat treat.

Roger Corman's Original 1960 version of "The Little Shop Of Horrors" is considered by many as a true cult classic comedy of B-Movies,even the most respected of film critics.Unfortunately depending on the tastes and opinions of film fans that were used to seeing this legendary film comedy through the public domain since there was a lack of copyright in the titles,(same thing had happen to "Night Of The Living Dead") and for many years since the dawn of the videocassette and late late movie shows,those versions were vastly inferior and often poor-looking in terms of presentation and contrast.Now the great folks at Legend Films have finally put out a brand-new definitive and excellent restored presentation of this cult hit on DVD in both the original black & white version as well as the disc's main presentation of showcasing a brand-new restored digitally colorized version too.As with previous selected Legend releases of classic horror/B-movies in their DVD series,the disc features a well-done and at times hilarious commentary by MST3K's Mike Nelson and the great thing is that you can listen to the track on both versions of the film,giving the b&w version sort of a MST3K-flavor to it (I love how he refers to the opening Filmgroup logo as little Reese Cups !).Despite packaging claims that is the first time the film has been colorized,it's actually the second colorized incarnation of the film.First colorized on videocassette in the very late '80's with lousy and at times amateur results,this Legend version completely blows away the first attempt and looks like it was actually filmed in color,but of course this films' legendary budgetary constraints prevented from actually filming it in color.Of course lets not forget that the film features a very very young Jack Nicholson,in his fourth film role,in a memorable role as a crazy dentist patient.I must say,this Legend version of "Little Shop" is probably the most superior and sharpest looking out of all the previous versions of the film that you're possibly going to see and no wonder it was transferred from an excellent 35mm print of the film ! Other extras,besides the Nelson commentary,round out the package including both restored color/unrestored b&w trailers to "Little Shop",and the following colorized trailers for "Plan 9 From Outer Space","House On Haunted Hill","Carnival Of Souls",and "Reefer Madness".Plus a gallery of nine man-eating plants,if any kids are planning to do a school project on man-eating plants,this could actually be a fun reference guide,and also a very short clip called "Man Eating Plants" which is actually the president of Legend Films Barry Sandrew vigorously eating vegetable plants such as celery (always eat your vegetables folks !).Well-done packaging,excellent eye-catching menus and a sparkling transfer of both versions will definitely please any film buff,both Hollywood and B-Movie fans alike ! This is by far one of the first best DVD releases of 2006 and is highly recommended for old and new fans alike instead of those who only prefer the 1986 spectacular Frank Oz musical remake with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin.Highly recommended !

UPDATE 11/24/06:

Just Recently,Buena Vista Home Entertainment in association with Roger Corman have finally released an "authorized" DVD release of "Little Shop Of Horrors" as well as a nicely restored original black & white version of Nicholson's debut film "The Cry Baby Killer".Unfortunately,the recent disc's presentation of "Little Shop" is in fact the ORIGINAL colorized version,slightly mentioned above,that was first produced and eventually released to video in 1987 by Color Systems Technology.The source print used for the color version (other than the fact that the quality was directly copied off a video master for the DVD) is surprisingly in quite good condition,but it really truly is one of the worst examples of 1980's colorization technology I've ever seen and will probably be the last.The colors are often the same as certain objects (ie: the outside of Mushnick's Shop and the greens for the flowers,etc.),tons of continuity errors (ie: clothing,signs,etc.) and does anybody wish to care seeing Audrey Jr. looking like a talking watermelon plant? Reportedly,that color version was authorized by none other than Corman himself and it's easy to see why many directors above his stature hate and disregard colorization.Nicholson/Corman fans alike aren't going to be impressed with that bust of a release and it's very easy to see why the '87 colorized version was out of circulation for many years.Easier said than done,the newly restored Legend Films release is by far,hands down,the real winner due to the technology,version options,and bonus materials !

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I had origanlly seen this movie on a late night horror movie host and loved it having already seen the musical version. I bought the DVD expecting DVD quality. The transfer to DVD is bad. It's proably one of the worse ones I own. It's a little choppy, very grainy and somewhat blurry. There's also a spotlight effect once in awhile that I don't remember being there before (where the egdes of the movie are a little darker then the center). If you look carefully you can see waves going though the picture during the first part of chapter 2. The sound is a little muffled. I rate the transfer at 2 (I'm sure there's a worse one) and only gave it a 3 becasue of the movie it's self.

Read Best Reviews of The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) Here

This is the original that started it all, in 1960 which the film was shot for only two days. It's an good film, with a lot of grainy feel to it in black and white.

This version is about the bumbling Seymour who was almost out the door by his boss, Mr. Mushnick, for his incompetence. Seymour finds an unusual plant and Mushnick told Seymour if the plant turns out to be ok and fed, Seymour gets to stay at his job. Seymour names this plant, Audrey Jr., after his coworker, Audrey, who he loves. Before long, Seymour finds out that this plants wants nothing other than blood and human flesh...and ends up bringing dead people to the plant that were accidently killed. The cops were trying to find out what happened to the missing people (they were already eaten by the plant), and Mr. Mushnick stumbled on Seymour's secret. Mr. Mushnick offered a robber in the shop to the plant to save his life. The cops find out that Seymour is the one who killed the people when the pods of the plant opened up, showing the faces of those that were eaten, and there was a junkyard chase after Seymour. When Seymour goes back to the shop, he was mad at the plant, and intending to cut the weeds to kill it, he jumped in and the plant ate him. When the others came back to the shop, they found Seymour's face in one of the pods, then the movie ends.

There are some funny parts, and some silliness in other scenes (like the tramp that Seymour ran into, and their conversation is humorous!), plus you can find a young Jack Nicholson as the pain-loving dental patient.

This movie reminds me a little bit of the 1920s or 1930s films by the way some of the acting and the grainy image has portrayed in this 1960 movie, but overall, it is a good movie to watch.

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I recently watched the musical remake of Little Shop of Horrors and enjoyed it immensely, and my curiosity about the genesis of that film lead me to its progenitor. I hadn't realised that Roger Corman's original was intended as a comedy--I'd thought that it was a cheapie horror film with camp humor arising from its unintended absurdity. This is absolutely not the case, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The absurdity of Little Shop, and there is plenty, is all fully intended. At times it is almost as if the Monty Python troupe is doing a black-and-white horror spoof, it is so good. I find it impossible to say whether the musical remake or the original is "better"--they are simply different, and each amusing in its own way. I prefered Rick Moranis's Seymour to that of Jonathan Haze, but Jackie Joseph's Audrey had funnier lines and was less pathetic than Ellen Greene's. But what really surprised me was that the comic touches I had thought were signatures of the Saturday Night Live/Second City crowd were all in the original: the sadistic dentist and his masochistic patient; "Pain" magazine, "Feed me!", and more. Futhermore, the original had some more absurd characters that didn't make it into the remake, including a parody of the detectives from Dragnet and Seymour's mother, a hypochondriac whose home cooking is all flavoured with medicine! Although the sound and picture quality of the version I watched was poor, it was worth sitting through if you enjoyed the more recent version. Also worthy of note was the spiky, xylophone-timpani-and-baritone-saxophone-laden score by Fred Katz.

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Big Trouble in Little China (2009)

...People back in 1986 did not understand Big Trouble In Little China. It's the kind of film you either "get" or you "don't get"...They were ahead of their time. Big Trouble In Little China is no different. Basically a Hong Kong action picture with stabs at humor, magic, mysticism and a touch of romance, "Big Trouble" clashed with the heroic heroes of the time... and instead gave us a lead character who's big on talk but usually not good at much else. Kurt Russell's Jack Burton is the type of character with an over-evolved sense of ego that never seems to match his less than perfect grasp of how to deal with real situations. The other difference here is that Jack is not the real hero, it's really Wang Chi(Dennis Dun), who shows us all the great Kung Fu moves and sword fighting styles... Jack Burton is more of the sidekick who thinks he's the head honcho but never seems to do anything right and when he does do something right it's usually because of blind luck. But that's the kind of character Carpenter wanted and he knew Russell would be the best person for the job because he's not afraid to let his hair down and look foolish. Looking tough with smeared lipstick on his face, rolling backwards in a wheelchair screaming or shooting his gun straight up causing small rocks to fall down, knocking him unconscious. No ego is involved with Kurt Russell...

The DVD transfer looks wonderful (widescreen 2.35:1) and even comes with DTS sound which you've got to listen to to believe. As for the special features, the biggest gem on this 2DVD Set is the Audio Commentary by John Carpenter & Kurt Russell. These two have done commentaries before and hinted at doing one for "Big Trouble" during the commentary they did for The Thing (1982). I love listening to these guys! It's just so much fun, it's like being in the room with them and you're just being quiet and listening. Their comments tend to take off from "Big Trouble" and aim more towards where their careers have been, where they're going and how their children are doing in regards to sports and music. Carpenter laments that his son, Cody, can play the keyboard better than he can now and Russell talks about his son, Wyatt winning a hockey championship and how he'd rather see a twenty-something do action films instead of people like himself who are in their fifties (this is him saying this, not me). There's a lot of respect between the two and some hinting that they might work together again soon...I wrote a review about Escape From New York and how I felt it was Carpenter's and Russell's best collaboration out of the five films they've done together. Well on this commentary, Kurt Russell said that working on Escape From New York was the best experience of his career. It would seem we're in agreement. There's also talk about how the styles of directing has changed over the years and how it seems to be going downhill. You need a director who believes in his vision and sticks by it, otherwise you're in for trouble, Big Trouble. Sadly, no mention whether or not they'll do commentaries for Elvis and Escape From L.A.(the only films they haven't made commentaries for), but I'm sure they'd jump at the chance. These guys are such good friends, you can feel it...Carpenter even said he thought "Captain Ron" was Kurt's best performance! I wish the film was twice as long just so I could hear more from them!

The rest of the features are basic: trailers, TV spots, featurette, music video by the Coup De Villes(love Carpenter's low voice!), interviews, still gallery, magazine articles, production notes, cast & director film lists and some interesting deleted scenes, including an extended version of Jack in the Chinese bordello with an added line about the green-eyed girl that's hysterical...The actual ending, however, is still the same. There are even some trailers to Aliens & The Fly hidden on page 2 of the special features section (just click to the left once you're positioned on the Richard Edlund Interview and press "Enter").

This Special Edition rocks and is second only to the collector's edition DVD of The Thing by Universal Pictures. That DVD included a retrospective documentary with most of the original cast & crew returning for a look back. Ennio Morricone's Score is given it's own isolated track during this documentary as well, so those are the main reasons why The Thing is still the best John Carpenter Special Edition DVD out there, but Big Trouble In Little China is very impressive as well. Some of you may be wondering why they couldn't fit all the special features on Disc 1? Well, normally you could, but DTS Sound takes up a lot of room and this is why they had to split it all into a two disc set. So add this Carpenter masterpiece to your collection. It is truly one of his all time bests!

ADDITIONAL BLU-RAY INFO:

I recently bought this film again on Blu-Ray and just had to comment on how nice an upgrade it is. First, I was really impressed with the new transfer. There's so much more detail now in the picture quality, which, while still not perfect, is a vast improvement over the DVD. Second, all of the special features from the out of print 2 disc Special Edition DVD set are all included on the Blu-Ray, along with a wonderful new feature: an Isolated Score audio track for the complete film in 5.1 DTS. This was the first thing I checked out when first popping in the Blu-Ray and I was just blown away by it. It's exactly like having the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in your possession, with every complete music cue and sequence included and intact (no edits or cuts at all). There are a couple of dead-air spots, where no music was used, but they are brief and don't detract very much at all from the overall listening experience. So if you're thinking about upgrading this fantastic movie to Blu-Ray, my advice is "Go for it." The price for the Blu-Ray is usually very cheap too. Plus, again, if you don't already have the 2 disc special edition DVD, you'll get all of the special features from it on the Blu-Ray, with the added Isolated Score option as well. Check it out!

Big Trouble In Little China A Cult Classic!

"It's all in the reflexes" Kurt Russell as Jack Burton

Other recommended Kurt Russell/John Carpenter collaborations:

"Elvis: The Movie" DVD (1979)

"Escape From New York" DVD & Blu-Ray (1981)

"The Thing" DVD & Blu-Ray (1982)

"Escape From L.A." DVD & Blu-Ray (1996)

Director John Carpenter teams with Kurt Russell in this wonderfully unique spoof of the martial arts movie genre, and they hit on all cylinders in a film that is incredibly funny, surprisingly well-crafted, and just plain fun.

Russell takes advantage of Gary Goldman and David Weinstein's script to deliver the best comic performance of his career as his swaggering trucker Jack Burton blunders through Chinatown in an attempt to recover his stolen truck and his friend's kidnapped fiancee.

Masterminding the badguys is demon/ghost David Lo Pan, played wryly by James Hong. Hong parodies practically his whole career in this role, and has some priceless lines in so doing. His motive in the kidnapping is to marry a girl with green eyes, which will appease his demon-god and restore his lost vitality.

The plot grows more absurd and hilarious as the movie progresses and Burton and his companion, Wang (Dennis Dun) enlist the aid of local magician Egg Shen (Victor Wong) to thwart Lo Pan. Russell and Dun are perfectly over-the-top in their deliveries, and they provide constant laughs to propel the movie rapidly along to its conclusion.

It is very hard to find someone who doesn't like this movie, and with good reason. The film is so novel and so funny that it can be enjoyed over and over again--a real treasure.

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The Critics shredded and diced this movie so I really went to the theatre expecting to see one sick puppy. Instead, I was delighted and I continue to be delighted every time I watch this marvelous movies. John Carpenter created an original howl of a time, with tongue firm planted through the cheek and simply went wild with fun and throw away lines, that will keep you coming back again and again. The Critics just did not get the JOKE!! Sigh...fortunately, the public did not agree.

A great cast Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, Kate Burton (Richard's Daughter), Victor Wong and James Hong take several wrong turns and end up in a war kung fu style kidnappings and all sorts "some very unreasonable things". Originally the manuscript for the second Buckaroo Banzai movie, Big Trouble hits bulls eye where BB just missed. It's over kill to the max, but such a great way to go as Jack Burton Russell doing a BAD John Wayne Imitation runs headlong into the magick underbelly of Chinatown. One critic put down Russell's performance as "was so poor, it was like he was doing a poor John Wayne imitation" WELL, DUH???? Earth to LM!!

Russell is taking Dennis Dun to pick up his bride to be, but she is mistakenly snatched. It's up to Russell, Dun, Wong and crew to try and get her back. Instead, they lose Kim Cattral to Hong as well as Burton's Peterbuilt "the Porkchop Express", so old Jack has to get mean.

If you don't want to laugh so hard your ribs hurt, you don't enjoy parodies, you don't enjoy bad John Wayne imitations...fine give it a pass. But everyone else wanting a great time, this is one you should not miss!

Read Best Reviews of Big Trouble in Little China (2009) Here

For non-stop action and entertainment, you can't beat this movie. There is no way any of it could happen in this world, and probably not in the next one, but it's so much fun that we just suspend belief and go along for the ride. And what a ride it is. Our hero, Jack Burton, superbly played by Kurt Russell, and his sidekick, Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), are in a race against time to rescue Wang's girl, a beautiful, green-eyed (huh? ) Chinese immigrant fresh off the plane, who has been kidnapped by the henchmen of a villain named David Lo-Pan, a 2000 year old ghost who must marry a girl with green eyes to restore him to flesh and blood. Along the way, Jack and Wang have to do battle with the Three Storms (thunder, rain and lightning) and a host of nasty bad guys in Lo-Pan's service. By the time Wang's girl is saved from the evil machinations of Lo-Pan, we've been through an incredible roller-coaster ride spiced up with gun-shooting, knife-slinging, things exploding in a ball of green fire, karate chops galore, mid-air swordfighting (yes, these guys actually fly through the air), and a hefty dose of good old black magic. It all adds up to a wild, crazy, hilarious, slambang knockout of a movie experience.

Want Big Trouble in Little China (2009) Discount?

Another title we've all known about for a while has now been tapped as official: Big Trouble In Little China will hit DVD as a 2-disc Special Edition on May 22nd! Disc 1 will feature the film with a brand-new digitally remastered anamorphic transfer and both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtracks! Also included on Disc 1 will be an Audio Commentary track with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Disc 2 will be loaded with treats, including: Deleted Scenes, an Alternate Ending, a new Making-of Documentary from DVD producer David Prior(Fight Club), an extensive Stills and Promo Art Gallery, DVD-ROM interactive material, and much MORE. MSRP will be a VERY fair $26.99, and this amazing 2-disc set is already available for pre-order! When we visited Fox last November, we were treated to a sneak of this set and the DVD menus. Trust me, it's going to be nice... and the wait for those of us who are fans of the film will be more than rewarded. Fox is taking charge of DVD... that's for sure. And it's also worth mentioning that on that same day (5/22) they will also be releasing the cool Point Break disc we told you about. It's not a "Special Edition", but will receive nice treatment including a new anamorphic transfer and both Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks! A fun film that is sure to be a worthy DVD!

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Little Fugitive (1953)

In 1953 I started school at PS 188 on Neptune Avenue in Coney Island. Each year, The Little Fugitive would be shown in the auditorium ...and every year I loved it as much as I had the year before ... I never forgot the movie and whenever anyone would ask my favorite film, even as an adult I would always mention it ... Several years ago when visiting NYC with my own children, after spending a day in Coney Island, eating at Nathans and going on the Cyclone, we wandered into a Manhatten video store and I was astounded to see it on a shelf. We immediately rented it and it was as wonderful in 1998 as it had been in the 1950s. My children loved it and continue to mention scenes from it today in 2003! A wonderfully charming film that goes right to the heart of childhood.

Though this film is certainly not for all tastes, I have to say that it's definitely one of my all time favorites. I strongly recall watching it on PBS late at night as a child, and was overjoyed to rediscover it as an adult. It doesn't hurt at all, either, that I'm a HUGE fan of Coney Island history, and that this film is chock-full of 1953 footage of the park, back in the good ol' days.

The plot is incredibly simple a young boy is tricked by his older brother and latter's unkind friends, into believing that he's committed murder. The boy runs off to Coney Island to take it on the lam, and, while there, learns a whole lot about the world. From finding out about the glory of 5-cent deposits, to (finally) riding a real pony, we see what's important in his little life, and see how he ekes out a survival for himself during his day and night away from home.

There is hardly any dialogue once he's in the park, and it's refreshing, really almost a sensory experience through the eyes of a little boy. We are treated to a more innocent time with very little effort, one can smell the odors of the boardwalk, taste the sweetness of a watermelon slice, and feel the sand beneath the feet. I haven't seen another film quite like this it's truly magical.

For the Coney Island enthusiasts out there, the footage from the park is fantastic. It stands as a wonderful record of the past the parachute jump, batting cages, food stands, a marvelous carousel, souvenir booths...it's all here, and it's incredible. If you haven't seen this film, you're missing out, and then some.

Overall, I can admit that this film isn't for all folks it's slow-moving, quiet, and can drag along a bit if you don't surrender to it, and take it at it's own pace. Once you've done so, however, you'll see how great a film it really is.

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When you first start watching this movie, you think the director has a budget of $10. But what you discover is a pioneer of the indendent film. This little gem is a whisical tale of 7 year old Joey Norton, who's dooped by friends into thinking he's shot and killed his older brother, Richie. Upon believing this, Joey exiles himself to Coney Island, with Richie in hot pursuit. The film does a wonderful job of catching the innocence of the 50's. If you can get them away from the computer, video games and Sponge Bob, I truly believe that even kids today would enjoy this little piece of "Americana"

Read Best Reviews of Little Fugitive (1953) Here

This movie takes the viewer back to the childhood in all of us. Whether you are from Iowa or Brooklyn, NY, you will be taken back to the time of your innocence, when the world was good and life was sweet. Powerful and so well done, this film looks as if it were a documentary following a child into another world. You feel it in your gut. It's also a lot of fun as well. As a personal manager repping children, exclusively I can honestly say that this film and these actors are the reason that keep me hopeful. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

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This is an amazing film, having seen it on Turner, BUT the manufacture of this DVD makes it junk. The DVD will not play beyond the initial screen (play,features, etc). I have ordered this DVD from four different vendors and EVERY ONE IS DEFECTIVE IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. Amazon was the most expensive but having bought from Amazon many times, I had hopes for a good product, but I was wrong.

KINO has a defective master and is churning out defective copies of this great little movie.

It is a shame.

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That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

Oh, you devilish French people! What with all of your obsession with, well, obsession! Men and women constantly throwing themselves at one another! Sex, sultry sex, and more sensational sensual sex! How refreshing it is to come across a slightly older classic that shows not all of you young or old are constantly happily copulating with one another twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! How delightful it is to discover that those rare few of you are doing little more than emotionally torturing the one you presumably love, once and for all proving that the rest of us may very well have a chance to stand toe-to-toe with you in matters of carnal conquest and rejection!

(Not that there's anything wrong with it ...)

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and characters. If you're the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I'd encourage you to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you're accepting of a few modest hints at `things to come,' then read on ...)

THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE is the story of an older man named Mathieu (played by Fernando Rey) who becomes smitten with his new maid-servant, Conchita (played in alternating appearances by two actresses: Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). Initially, she spurns his advances even runs from his affections only causing the man to be increasingly captivated by her. As their relationship grows (or does it?), the two continue a bizarre mating game, one that borders the lands of faithlessness and self-destruction, until there's nothing left for a possible happy union.

After watching the film, I had to do some research as, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out just what Spanish director Luis Bunuel (who also co-wrote this adaptation with Jean-Claude Carriere) was trying to say artistically in casting two separate women to play the same role. Over the course of the story, Bouquet and Molina appear interchangeably as Conchita for no particular rhyme or reason I could fathom. The best I've been able to ascertain is that Bunuel was a surrealist (an art form characterized by "subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by ... the exploitation of ... unexpected juxtapositions"), the goal of which would appear to invoke a `dream state' under which one's conscious mind has no influence.

Well ...

The best this unschooled mind has been able to put together is that, by casting two different women, Bunuel hoped to keep the audience (and his characters) in a persistent state of flux where illogical emotion could wreck havoc on these people. Conchita regardless of who's playing her frequently uses her feminine charms to arouse Mathieu; but she regardless of who's playing her never gives in to him sexually. In fact, the close she comes so far as the film implies is that he allows him to lie partially naked with her in bed. When he proposes alternative ways of gratification, she spurns him further, shutting him out of his bedroom or even locking him out of the house.

Also, the two actresses are of different heritage Bouquet is as French as a woman can possibly be, while Molina is the more sultry Spanish beauty. This could imply that Mathieu's attraction either might or might not be related to cultural normalcy (i.e. dating or marrying within one's nationality). Certainly, the women are both attractive but possess markedly differing physical traits, also suggesting that perhaps there is no universal body type provoking man's desire.

The thrust of DESIRE would be to suggest that satisfaction isn't possibly attainable at least not for any measureable duration because there are no constants that can be added up in any magic formula to display sexual fulfillment. There are only variables variables which change from place to place, from person to person, even from time to time and, as such, lasting happiness will always be close enough to touch but never quite within man's reach.

Lastly, there's an odd juxtaposition of scenes in the film's climax that bear further exploration, as I believe they underscore whatever idea Bunuel was reaching to say with his final film. Mathieu and Conchita appear to have reconciled, and they're shown in an alley perusing windows of some small French shops. Together, they're drawn to one display where a delicate woman patiently mends a tear in an elaborate woven dress. Bunuel focuses on this scene for quite some time, and then we're shown our two leads up in the corner of the frame speaking with one another, but the audience no longer hears what they're saying (they're on the outside of the glass window pane). Are they speaking about the dress? Are they reflecting on their relationship? Are they debating stitching choices? Conchita frowns and walks away, then Mathieu frowns and follows, but in the last image we're shown an explosion (a radio report playing in the background discussed mounting terrorist attacks in the city only moments before) ... and that's the end.

What I suspect I could be wrong Bunuel was saying is that even when the process of mending is under way, there will always be elements that pull us apart, that force us in other directions. This would imply that we're never truly under control of ourselves or our existence that we're always subject to the randomness of life and perhaps this would imply that the pursuit of fleeting happiness is nothing more than the pursuit of fools.

The film isn't as depressing as it sounds, though it certainly teeters close. Psychologically, it's an interesting study of a very complex idea, though I would have to say it certainly isn't an idea for everyone. Scholars might find plenty to get excited over here, but Mathieu sure didn't. (Pun intended.)

THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE is produced by Greenwich Film Productions, Les Films Galaxie, and In-Cine Compañía Industrial Cinematográfica. DVD distribution is being handled by Lionsgate. As for the technical specifications, this Blu-ray release looks and sounds very good, though I experienced one sequence late in the film the seemed a bit out-of-sync (for a few brief seconds); I have to wonder if that wasn't a production issue back to the original film. This is a French spoken language release (with English subtitles), but there is an English-dubbed track available. Lastly, the disk includes a nice assortment of special features: "Arbitrary Desire" (an interview with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrier); an interview with Carlos Saura; "Double Dames" (interviews with actresses Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina); and "A Portrait of Luis Bunuel" which is an in-depth discussion of the director and his films. It's certainly an impressive collection for a film of such distinction.

RECOMMENDED. As I indicated above, this one isn't for everyone. While there's a clear narrative at work here, so much of THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE is the study of an idea. It's a surreal investigation into the art of seduction and repulsion of how love leads to hate and vice versa. All of the players do a solid job, but I suspect the ending will leave more folks conflicted than they are happy, which is probably just what the director wanted.

In the interests of fairness, I'm pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Lionsgate provided me with a DVD screener of THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE for the expressed purposes of completing this review.

Yes, there is no other reason to watch this flick unless you are into Bond chick's and this one gives you what Bond's movies dont--some skin of future celebrities. The movie itself, however, kinda strange as most of Frenchies and lost in what the message is or should be. My understanding also, this flick is the only copy that is not cut in pieces. Recommended.

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Eating Out: The Open Weekend (2011)

The raunchy fun of gay culture and male eye candy is back in the fifth installment of the "Eating Out" series, "The Open Weekend". And in its eighty-minute run, it is better than its predecessor, "Drama Camp".

This time around there are a drove of beautiful, washboard hard bodies (the reason many--if not all--of us tune in to ogle) and cheesy one-liners. However, there are a few minor faults: (1), the absence of Garikayl Mutambirwa's character, Jason. His handsome face and droll, deadpan delivery are genuinely missed in this outing. (2), Aunt Helen (Mink Stole), in her albeit small scene (the fault) manages to sneak in a few uncomfortable giggles (good times). And (3), the fact that Rebekah Kochan's "Tiffani" returns with a cameo appearance--shovel in hand--is not enough airtime for our favorite "fag hag."

But Penny, played by the always-funny Lilach Mutambirwa, is another reason why the movie works. She brings a quirky, laugh-out-loud comedy to her role--and it is fun to watch as she and Lilly fight over the only possible straight man at the resort, Luis (Alvaro Orlando). But later, when the girls discover why Luis only flirts with the opposite sex and does not jump into bed with them on spot, everyone, including the audience, gets a good belly laugh. His secret is, to put it mildly, science fiction peculiarity.

But amid the brainless humor, male frontal nudity, and continual trysts, there is an underlining message buried beneath all of that superficiality: in the end, love and monogamy trumps one-night stands and promiscuity.

The Open Weekend talks of marriage and commitment--and the movie, thank goodness, ends on a high note for hopefuls Casey (Daniel Skelton) and Zack (Chris Salvatore).

The newest Eating Out is an entertaining, breezy, racy trip--and definitely worth a look.

T.B. Grant

3/20/12

The Eating Out series has balanced humor and pop culture reference with some serious challenges to sexual norms. The first movie spun the traditional experience of being in the closet, the second lampooned the ex-gay movement, and the third attacked online dating culture. The fourth movie lost so much by scattering into a less-amusing collection of silly vignettes about sex comedy, so I was worried that this movie would continue a trend. Instead, I was surprised by a campy exploration of gay monogamy and the relation to the marriage movement. I laughed a few times, but I also thought about my own relationship history and the challenges to gay marriage in popular conservative thought. One warning: the sex scenes are scorching even when played for humor, so watch this movie alone, boys! But do watch this movie.

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I usualy rate movies on plot, charicterization, setting, ect. Well, forget all that!

This is gay soft core porn that delivers over a dozen hot hunks for your inspection, and keeps the hot factor high enoughf throughout this film that the above mentioned factors realy matter less, although they are there.

This is one of the most fun guilty pleasures I've seen in a long time!

Pull donw the window shades and enjoy!

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Not up to the standard of the series.

I wish I would of rented before I bought! The acting was oKay but the story line lacked substance and not as funny as previous movies.

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This had no redeeming value for me what so ever. Good luck finding it for anyone else out there., it ain't secxy that's for sure. a bit fo eye candy at very best.

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20 Million Miles To Earth (50th Anniversary Edition) (2010)

I've just finished watching this 2 disc *COLORIZED* & B&W 50TH ANNIVERSARY SET, released July 31, 2007. I, like many other RAY HARRYHAUSEN fans already have the originally released SINGLE DISC DVD's of his movies (in that case the cover for 20MMTE has the Ymir image over orange "rings"). Is this worth an upgrade? How's the colorization? I'll try to cover this reviewer's opinions on that.

COLORIZATION: THE *MAIN* reason to get this IMHO is to see what a "sanctioned" colorization of an RH B&W film looks like. FOR THE RECORD: Typically, I am more of a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda guy. In this case, even with RH's blessings, I didn't think 20M *needed* coloring, but I sure wasn't going to argue if the option to get a B&W print of the film was in the same DVD release, which it is. It should be noted here, that while watching this in color, if for any reason you feel too jarred by the whole process, you can switch to the original B&W print SEAMLESSLY via the "ANGLE" button on your remote (so called "CHROMACHOICE")....pretty cool, and this function should be made available on ANY future colorized/re-edited film if ya ask me. I spent the first part of the movie tinkering with this to see the differences. RH has green lit and is totally part of this coloring thing so that is cool. Someone pointed out and asked why is it OK for RH to tinker with his old stuff and not GEORGE LUCAS (RH said if they had the budget, these B&W films would've been in color)....well....HERE, they give us the option of EITHER to watch. Something LUCAS did not originally do, yet insisted with the revisions, that those were THE PRINTS TO WATCH. HERE, it is like watching an old master revisit an old project and watching him tinker with it, yet we still can control how we "percieve" the film (i.e. the way it was, or way it could've been....for those who must hold onto those precious childhood memories EXACTLY as they were...cuz you know you were sitting at home watching these on a DIGITAL WS TV back then...lol;-).

HOW'S THE COLOR?: If you saw the TURNER COLORIZED 1933 KING KONG and were horrified at the PINK TYRANNOSAURUS, then fear not. According to Legend Films, the process is now refined, new system etc etc, and those old school colorization horrors are no more. But the proof is in the viewing. YES, the process is MUCH, MUCH BETTER. I've picked up a number of LEGEND FILMS's other colorized releases (CARNIVAL OF SOULS, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILLS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD etc) because the colorization was decent and had the (pretty darn good) B&W masters on them as well. HERE, it is the BEST I've seen the process. Of course, when talking colorization, the film, no matter how good the technology, STILL LOOKS LIKE THE OLD TINTED PHOTOS YOU USED TO SEE IN OLD MAGAZINES & ADS. But then, that is what you get, tinting B&W, so it is essentially part of the look. Growing up on old school stuff, this tinting thing was cool to me so seeing a film this way was never such a big shock to me as it is to some. But again, so long as the option to see the original is there. IF this is what to expect in future RH films, I'll certainly pick up the rest. The colors feel more lush....flesh looks MORE LIKE FLESH, it's still somewhat flat, but there's a richness not present in other colorized films I've seen, and sorry to the purists, the YMIR (the monster) is just cool to see in color finally even if his fins and other lighter details appear a little flat & dulled. I always wondered as a kid what he looked like in color. Many old lobby cards were tinted so this just keeps in line with those, so it works AS A VIEWING OPTION to me.

THE B&W PRINT: Honestly, if you have the original DVD release of this, you may want to rent this first to see if this film is important enough for you to upgrade. THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, i.e. this release appears to have the best of the two DVD released prints, it feels cleaner, BUT, I think those details/plusses will be lost if you have a regular TV to watch this on. I am using a HD WIDESCREEN/LCD and upsampling via HDMI (a glamorous version of "standard" lol!;-) so I can't tell you what the differences would be in standard viewing, but I can't see them being all THAT different to warrant an upgrade, UNLESS like myself you want to see the novelty of colorization at work. The original (orange cover) release had a really good print on it to begin with so I never felt this was needing an upgrade.

BOTH FILM VERSIONS ARE ASPECT RATIO1.85:1 ANAMORPHIC. Remastered in HI-DEF. 165min. total. Apparently this was sourced from a different/better source print from Columbia/Sony vaults. SF's are WS.

SPECIAL FEATURES: GONE from before are the HARRYHAUSEN CHRONICLES thankfully, which was on nearly every d@mn RH DVD. Nice the first time, but 5 DVD's in, it was tired. HERE, there's the commentary track which is cool in some parts, but it starts feeling like a plug for the colorization process and fan worship....hearing RH proclaim how the colorization just brings the movie to life repeatedly was a little bothersome, since it is cool/interesting, but hey, it's still a colorization of an originally B&W film, no matter WHOM sanctions the process....but this is RH's film, so I gotta give a little room here. And though I think RH has gone from cult fan favorite to (much deserved) mainstream praise, as another reviewer stated, this praise has started to turn into overkill when having to listen to it, as is the case here. The commentary is riddled with praising of the emotive qualities of the animation work (which is deserved) but after hearing this over and over, the praise just becomes more kissy-kissy feeling than genuine. But then, many RH fans have thought highly of his work already and recognized these qualities so it's like preaching to the choir, so having it beaten into our heads for a whole discs worth of SPECIAL FEATURES becomes a little tedious.

The MAIN SPECIAL FEATURE is 'REMEMBERING 20MMTE"......which was pretty cool to watch a feature just on the film. It was also nice to hear TERRY GILLIUM (Director whose name I can't rememeber how to spell right this second), but hearing him actually say the main reason to watch an RH film was the animation since most of the acting was wooden....lol! I almost can't believe they left that in, but how true! TIM BURTON'S segment was cool the first several minutes.....nice to see him be just a fanboy. But that got long. I also noticed here, that much of the RH features are starting to become retellings of the same stories I've heard over and over. I'm not really complaining, but rehashing is rehashing....and I understand some people aren't buying every d@mn disc like some of us are (*ahem*ahem*). TIM BURTON's piece was welcome though. The JOAN TAYLOR INTERVIEW was a little long considering it is not focused TOTALLY on RH (understandably), though interesting to hear her film background. AND WOW....SHE IS STILL A BEAUTY. Her endcap praise of RH was very nice and shows what a long way in terms of respect RH has come since he started. It's almost odd to hear people didn't really have a clue about what he was doing and the craftsmanship this one man show was up to back in the day.

DAVID SCHECTER's FILM MUSIC UNSUNG HERO piece on the composer whose long name escapes me, but the guy who scored this and other B-movies, mostly the monster theme scores was surprisingly interesting to me since I almost passed on viewing it. That provided some excellent bits of info on the scoring process. But it became waaaaay too much info for me after awhile, my brain started losing places to save all this trivia.

COLORIZATION FEATURE: Interesting to see the process described, though that felt a little self congratulatory, falling into the OK, I GET IT, COLORIZATION HAS COME A LONG WAY category of overkill ideas to pound into the viewer's heads. But still.....interesting to watch, and RH is in this.

OVERALL: This was worth an upgrade for me. The coloring was as excellent as could be, and I won't scream about touching an old B&W film, since the option for watching either is here. You can be sure if LEGEND releases KING KONG colored (their way) I'll pick it up. The praise of RH seems a bit redundant (but AGAIN, this is from someone who's felt he's had this a long time coming and doesn't need to be brought up to speed), but it seems now like every release is trying to catch the rest of the world up with RH's greatness as a creator, so it sometimes is hard to watch as a true diehard RH fan who doesn't need to be told this. The technical stuff is informative.....the old stories etc etc.....but I have to wonder how the next colored releases will fare in terms of content (EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCCERS, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA) since the process (both animation AND colorization are described in depth here). ALSO, the old stories.........is there really any fresh info to be gleaned at this point? And where are the deleted scenes....even millisecond animation cutting room floor tidbits...anything. Guess we'll see.

But THANKS TO SONY/LEGEND for making an overall, really good DVD release of this film. I'm certainly NOT complaining that I snuck away at lunch yesterday to pick this up:-) !!! IF I just discovered RH, this would be an excellent package. It still holds up well for us diehards....at least this one. Hope this helps some of you out there!

PS: And BTW: AMAZON so far seems to have the best price if you can wait and order online.

PSS: And since I believe Amazon's reviews are PRODUCT REVIEWS, my stars are based on my feelings toward this as a package. THE FILM ITSELF IS MORE LIKE A 3.75/4 (sorry....the acting is fabulously atrocious in parts).

This is the type of film I love. Good story,good effects and a GREAT monster THE YMIR to boot. This is what hollywood needs to do is go back look at films like this and realize that its substance to a movie not CGI effects that tell and make a story. Im 24 and have a old school style when it comes to sci-fi/horror which I TRULY LOVE. If you are a monster fan or a sci-fi/horror movie collector this is a must see and have movie either for the first time or for your movie collection. To me this is one of Harryhausens best creature designs and the creature himself has substance that makes you want to root for him. For the sci-fi lover in you rent this or buy this but whatever you do see this masterpiece from the golden-age of science fiction. Bring back the old school!

Buy 20 Million Miles To Earth (50th Anniversary Edition) (2010) Now

The disc will contain full frame (1.33:1) and anamorphic (1.85:1) digitally-restored versions of the film, as well as a newly-colorized edition supervised by Harryhausen himself. "

Bonus features including audio commentary by Ray Harryhausen, visual effects artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, and producer Arnold Kunert; Remembering 20 Million Miles to Earth, wherein Harryhausen and others discuss the film's production and influence; Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen; The Joan Taylor Interview; Colorization; a video discussion of 20 Million Miles to Earth's 1957 marketing and advertising campaign by producer Arnold Kunert; Mischa Bakaleinikoff: Film Music's Unsung Hero; Colorization featurette and an elaborate still and production art gallery.

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Released in June 1957, "20 Million Miles to Earth" is an important film in the canon of visual effects genius Ray Harryhausen. It was the last of the black and white science-fiction films he worked on during the 50s. It was also the first film based on one of his own ideas. It set the stage for his color fantasy films triumphs that would follow.

Harryhausen had originally developed a story about the frost giant Ymir from Norse mythology. He then changed the creature to a cyclops-satyr mix from another planet who rampages on modern Earth, but still kept the name Ymir. (The Cyclops-satyr would later show up in "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.") When the film finally went before the cameras, the Ymir had become a humanoid-reptilian beast from Venus. Brought to Earth in a crashed rocket, the Ymir emerges as only a few inches high, but starts growing rapidly in the Earth's atmosphere. Originally peaceful, the Ymir is provoked into violence by frightened humans. The movie climaxes in Rome when the captive Ymir bursts loose and starts smashing famous monuments in the Eternal City.

The parallels to King Kong are obvious, and Harryhausen intended the Ymir to also be a sympathetic, misunderstood creature. He succeeded grandly: "20 Millions Miles to Earth" is Harryhausen's best early film. The direction from Nathan Juran and the human actors are perfunctory and clichéd, but the effects are still stunning today, and the Ymir is a superb actor. Designed along human lines, but with dinosaur features, the Ymir elicits strong emotions and exudes tremendous personality. The scene of it hatching from its `pod' (made of gelatin) and exploring the strange world around it for the first time is one of the high points of Harryhausen's career, and a sequence of which he rightly feels great pride. The scene of the full-sized, fifteen-foot Ymir wrestling an elephant (also animated) is also a stunning piece of work.

(Harryhausen's love of the Ymir extended to late in his career. In his last film, "The Clash of the Titans," he used the Ymir as the basis for the design of the multiple-armed monster the Kraken -the heads and bodies are almost the same.)

The DVD presents the film in widescreen format for the first time since its theatrical release. The image is crystal clear and lets Harryhausen's work shine. There are a few extras. "The Harryhausen Chronicles," a lengthy documentary, does an excellent overview of the man's career. This same documentary appears on most of Columbia's Harryhausen DVDs, so if you're a fan of the animator you've probably seen this before. Also included is a vintage featurette about the animation process, called "This is Dynamation." It was made for the release of "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," so it actually has nothing to do with "20 Million Miles to Earth."

This is a must-have DVD for any Harryhausen fan and any admirer of 50s science fiction. It's one of the highlights of giant monster cinema.

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Ray Harryhausen's genius as an artist, sculptor and animator is shown off to great effect in the classic but nearly forgotten 1957 black and white monster movie "20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH" available for the first time in a digitally mastered DVD.

The story may be trite and the screenplay not particularly noteworthy, but the illusion of life given the Ymir, a reptilian biped creature brought unwillingly from Venus to earth as an egg, is truly astonishing, and sometimes grotesquely beautiful. Even more amazingly, we respond to the Ymir as a living, breathing creature. Just knowing it's not an actor in a monster suit nor a drawn cartoon adds immeasurably to the effect. After it hatches, the small gestures as it rubs its eyes and reacts to light in the increasingly hostile earthly environment make it particularly endearing. In fact, we are inclined to root for this alien beast as it fights to survive while traveling from a tiny Sicilian fishing village to Rome where, of course, it wreaks havoc as a now understandably angry behemoth with very destructive proclivities. The black and white photography, no doubt a result of budget concerns, is especially dynamic and appropriately moody with scenes richly shadowed. This new edition includes nice wide and full screen transfers as well as trailers and featurettes.

Ray Harryhausen's life was inexorably changed when, as a teen, he saw "King Kong" (1933) at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood. The life-like puppet animation of the great ape by Willis O'Brien so captured his fancy that Ray went home and immediately attempted to duplicate the effects, making dinosuar models and animating them -at 24 moves for every second of finished film -within his own detailed miniature sets and hand-painted backgrounds.

His early efforts were quite good and his parents encouraged Ray to continue with his hobby which, in fact, was becoming more of an obsession. He even cut up one of his mother's fur coats to make a lifelike pelt for one of his creations -and was not reprimanded. In 1938, at a science fiction club, he met another teen named Ray -Ray Bradbury -who had similar interests. They encouraged each other and became life-long friends. Harryhausen went to art school near Los Angeles. The quality of his designs and miniatures greatly improved and soon he was invited by his idol, Willis O'Brien, to work on the stop-motion ape movie "Mighty Joe Young."

In the age of eye-popping, super photorealistic computer generated animation, there's still something uniquely enthralling about seeing the interaction of fantastical three dimensional creatures with human actors. Maybe it's the hands-on-touch of these clay, fur and metal-armatured creations that gives them the illusion of life in a way that CGI can never achieve. Even the tiny flaws and mistakes -like the uneven movement of fur and sometimes even the fleeting fingerprints of the animators -add an element of emotional realism that is hard to describe in words alone. The mind knows the puppet is not alive but the eye and heart appreciate the art to such a degree that one is filled with astonishment and affection at this hand-crafted art. This is something much more than merely the willing suspension of disbelief that all the story-telling arts demand. And no man did it better than Ray Harryhausen. He has referred to the craft as "playing God by molding life from clay." And maybe that's the truer subtext of the metaphor to which we respond with such delight and wonder.

Columbia/Tristar also distributes on DVD Harryhausen's "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger," "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts" the latter with the incredible fighting skeletons, perhaps Harryhausen's most widely praised sequence.

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