Bull Durham (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) (1988)

If you've never seen "Bull Durham" before, and are tempted to write it off as another sports flick, I beg you to rethink your position. Let me tell you my all-time favorite sports movie: "Hoop Dreams". What about it resonates with me so strongly? It's not a basketball movie --instead, it is a character drama that just happens to exist within a basketball court. In other words, where the story takes place is irrelevant; what dominates the picture is how the story (or real-life events) affects the characters (documentary subjects).

"Bull Durham" might not belong in the realm of that classic, but skeptics shouldn't dismiss it simply because it involves baseball. Overlookers won't realize that it's a funny exploration of how people discover their own ambition; the dirt diamond & ball are circumstantial.

The story begins when a minor league team is joined by veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner). Crash has been given the unenviable task of mentoring an immature pitcher whose deadly fastball "couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat". Tim Robbins plays the pitcher, Eddie Laloosh. Eddie soon takes the nickname "Nuke"; Crash decides "Meat" is a better way to condescend the undisciplined rookie.

Let me pause there, because this sound like we're going to get a fairy tale of how a cynical teacher and hotshot student will become better humans by the end of their journey. Thankfully, writer-director Ron Shelton was much smarter than this, and doesn't treat his story like a whimsical children's book. Crash and Nuke engage in some of the harshest (and funniest) banter in the history of comedies; the only times either learns anything from each other is because one just can't deal with the tension and submits. I won't give anything away, but if you've never seen this movie before, you'll thank me later when Nuke shakes off Crash's pitching calls --twice! If for whatever reason you don't like Costner or Robbins, their perfect chemistry will change your mind. It's been 20 years since "Bull Durham", and both actors have rarely been better.

When this unbearable pairing of Crash & Nuke begins, they soon meet Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon). Annie is a strange blend of sexual creature and muse. She takes one player per season, and selects that player as her mate and student. In the hands of another actress or director, this would come off as sleazy & trashy. But once Annie begins to make her new choice stimulate his mind with poetry BEFORE satisfying his primal urges, it becomes clear that eroticism is not even a factor. You know, when I think of Sarandon, "sexy" is not the first word to come to my mind. But "Bull Durham" convinced me otherwise. Just look at the boxart! But then wait until you watch the performance: it's a treasure from her opening monologue to the emotional finale!

What results from the Crash/Nuke bickering, Annie's sensual tutoring, their bizarre triangle, and the adventurous Durham Bulls season is a movie that is achingly funny...but then Shelton gently pulls the curtain back to reveal some more layers.

I forgot the mention the Durham Bulls team name earlier because they're not the primary focus. I haven't revealed many plot points because the plot's mostly in the background. I can't recall any 'BIG GAMES' or 'TWISTS'. Hell, there's hardly any baseball for the last 30 minutes of the picture! What "Bull Durham" leaves with viewers are the characters & the little details. We don't care which games the Bulls won, but we remember the teammates' weird superstitions & conversations. Annie's teachings are incredibly silly, but she eventually acknowledges how ridiculous some of her behavior is. The three principals do discover their dreams, but in a most unlikely way. The romance is sweet, patient, and believable offbeat. Best of all, "Bull Durham" works on all paces --it speeds up to make us laugh, and still keeps our attention when it slows down for reflection.

"Bull Durham" is a hard movie to describe because there's really nothing else like it. Ron Shelton has created a small-town comedy that resembles something from Frank Capra's mind. It's as much a celebration of life as it is a parody of it. There are no grossout gags; just strong acting and intelligent writing. The game of baseball is merely a catalyst of more meaningful ideas. But have no fear: there's plenty of baseball comedy for sports buffs.

"Bull Durham" includes the good times of a "movie", but earns its place as a "film" --the perfect balance of entertainment and genius!

EXTRAS

This new DVD won't come out until March 18th. Here's what's been advertised:

* Audio Commentary from director Ron Shelton

* Audio Commentary from Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins

* "The Greatest Show On Dirt" featurette Twenty years later the cast, crew and fans remember Bull Durham

* "Diamonds In The Rough" featurette Explores minor league baseball

* "Between The Lines: The Making Of Bull Durham" featurette

* "Kevin Costner Profile"

I'll come back and review these special features. Just looking at these Extras convinces me that the earlier DVD release will soon be obsolete.

Ron Shelton spent some time in the minor leagues represented in his screenplay for Bull Durham, so he knows about the baseball things represented. But he also clearly has a gifted ear for the tempo of real life, and he knows about hopes and desires and the things that make human beings tick. The setting for this film with the minor league Durham Bulls works, and works perfectly, but the characters, especially among the central love triangle, could just as easily have been traveling salesmen or race drivers or con artists or gangsters.

Susan Sarandon plays Annie Savoy, a slightly older woman who is a Durham Bulls groupie of sorts: once a season she picks out a promising young player and begins an affair with them. During that season the promising young player has the year of his life and gets called up to the big leagues, leaving Annie to look for next year's promising young player.

The Bulls also have a million-dollar prospect of a pitcher with a right arm who the gods reached down and turned into a thunderbolt. He also has less control than a seven year old with hyperactive attention deficit disorder without his Ritalin. He's as likely to throw it over the backstop as throw a strike, although his "stuff" is like Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson. Tim Robbins brings "Nuke" LaLoosh to life in his best comic performance.

Kevin Costner, in the best of his many baseball-movie appearances, plays "Crash" Davis, a power-hitting catcher with enough talent to be a leader on minor league teams, but only 21 days in "The Show" in years of minor league work. Crash is not only a competent minor league catcher though he also knows the history of the game, and he knows how to get into the heads of players who have mental blocks preventing them from achieving all they can as baseball players.

Crash, meet Nuke. Both of you meet Annie.

The dialogue is so witty and sparkling that more than a decade after the film's release, it still shows up frequently in discussions about baseball movies and on ESPN. Crash envies Nuke's god-given talent, and by degrees the clueless Nuke begins to appreciate Crash's baseball wisdom. Annie has the hots for both of them, and they for her, and the way this triangle evolves and resolves makes for a very satisfying baseball movie watching experience.

The movie would be worth watching if only for the hilarious little scenes that happen out on the playing field between catcher Costner and pitcher Robbins. Nuke has the million-dollar arm and the ten-cent head. Crash knows his job (and everyone elses as well) like the back of his hand. Whenever Nuke starts trying to think for himself, he quickly gets into trouble, frequently with active assistance from Crash.

Crash "calls" the game signalling to the pitcher which pitches to throw. When Nuke listens things go well. When Nuke doesn't listen, Crash whispers to the hitter what pitch is coming so that the batter can tee off on the pitch. Then as the batter circles the bases after his home run Crash goes out to the mound to remind Nuke not to try thinking for himself. "Boy, the last thing I saw fly out of here like that had a stewardess and passengers on it!"

Supporting parts are performed to hilarious perfection as well, with particular kudos to Trey Wilson as the manager and Robert Wuhl as a team coach. They have many entertaining scenes, including the one following Nuke's minor-league debut when he struck out 18..... but also walked 18 both league records! A must for grown-up baseball fans.

Buy Bull Durham (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) (1988) Now

If you love baseball, then odds are you've seen & love Bull Durham, a sexy fun dramady starring Kevin Costner, Susan Surandon & Tim Robbins. It's easily one of the best baseball movies ever made and the first of three in Mr. Costner's Baseball Trilogy (Field of Dreams & For Love of The Game would follow).

The extra features included in this Special Edition are pretty nice. Plus I also enjoyed the extra outer packaging sleeve that comes with the DVD case. It's all white and looks like a big baseball. The classic picture of Kevin standing next to a car with a beer in one hand and a bat in the other, with Susan perched beside him is still what's on the actual DVD case. For the first time we actually get the trailers to Bull Durham and I really enjoyed watching the teaser & theatrical trailers. But does anyone remember the original TV spots which always ended with the bathtub scene and seeing the candles getting put out with a splash of water? The new making of documentary: Between the Lines, is a nice retrospective look back at the movie, with everyone involved, from Kevin, Susan & Tim, to director Ron Shelton himself, plus Robert Wuhl and others. What also makes it fun is real Bull Durham baseball players also comment on the film and really give you the dirt on how it measured up to really being in the minors. The other featurettes: Kevin Costner Profile & Sports Wrap are a little disappointing because they're very short (maybe 4 minutes each) and aren't new, just old featurettes made during the filming of the movie. But they're still nice to have. The Photo Gallery is nice too, but don't expect a lot of pics. There's about maybe a hundred or so. Now some of you will be surprised to learn that the Joe Cocker music video is not on the DVD. I mean it might be a hidden easter egg but I doubt it. More likely they were unable to get the rights to it and therefore not allowed to include it on the disc. Which is sad because it's a great song. I was lucky enough to get the soundtrack on CD which has been out of print for years. They really should re-release it because the songs are just wonderful!

The audio commentaries included are both fun & insightful. If you own the previous release of Bull Durham on DVD then you already have the Ron Shelton commentary which I enjoyed a lot. He gives a lot of great stories and explanations about the film that really open your eyes a bit more. But the real gem is the new commentary between Kevin Costner & Tim Robbins. One thing you'll notice right away is all the scenes Kevin talks about that didn't make the final cut. It's a real shame there's no deleted scenes section on this DVD so we could actually see them because they sound pretty good. There's a couple of freindly jabs from Kevin on how Tim was lucky enough to end up with Susan Surandon and how he didn't even know they were dating during filming. It does get a little intense when the love scene between she and Kevin comes up. Tim says "This is the part of the movie I don't like watching". But Kevin handles the tension nicely like a pro and talks about other things during the scene. It's a lot of fun. I wish these guys did another movie togeher! The ironic thing I noticed is that Ron Shelton states that, regarding the famous speech given by Kevin at Susan's house, that he doesn't really like it and would not've written it the same way had he made the film today. While Kevin, in his audio commentary says that it's a great speech but he didn't deliver it well enough and the strength of it lies with the words themsleves. That's what made it powerful, not his acting. Personally I think he's too hard on himself. Plus I always smile during the part of the speech when he says "I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone", since Kevin starred in JFK. It's a great speech and he does it perfectly.

For some reason MGM decided to give both a widescreen version and a standard pan & scan version for this DVD release, which means no cover art on the front of the disc. I don't understand why they needed the standard version since the film only has a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. But one reason you may want to consider keeping your old copy of Bull Durham on DVD is that the previous release was presented in THX for superior picture and sound quality. The new special edition version is not. And I think the THX version does look better too. Guess MGM didn't feel like using it for their release.

You don't have to be a baseball fan to love this movie. The acting is great, the characters are great, the music is timeless, & the romantic side is just as strong and touching as anything else. Pick up this special edition of Bull Durham. While your at it, pick up the rest of Mr. Costner's baseball trilogy on DVD and then watch 'em all back to back. You'll be glad you did.

Bull Durham -Rated the #1 Sports Movie of All Time by Sports Illustrated

"I'm the player to be named later" Kevin Costner as Crash Davis

Read Best Reviews of Bull Durham (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) (1988) Here

It's time for Major League Baseball players to get ready for "The Show", and yet I can't help but think about this funny screwball comedy about minor league baseball, written and directed by former minor leaguer Ron Shelton. For Shelton this was truly a labor of love, realistically depicting life in the minor leagues with ample doses of humor. Kevin Costner gives one of his finest performances as veteran minor league catcher "Crash" Davis, who has spent only 21 days in "The Show" (Major League Baseball) and is near the end of his own career. It is Davis' mission to train a promising young pitcher with a million dollar arm but a dim bulb of a mind to go with it, Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). Robbins offers the funniest and among the best performances in his career as LaLoosh, whom the majors think may be the next Nolan Ryan or Sandy Koufax. Vying for their affections is English school teacher and diehard Durham Bulls fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), who seeks out the most promising rookie each season and has an affair with him; though this time, both she and Davis realize that LaLoosh doesn't deserve her affections. "Bull Durham" is a hilarious mix of metaphysics, poetry, love and baseball though not quite in this order that's blessed with an excellent cast, script and direction from Ron Shelton. It's among my favorite films from the 1980s and unquestionably one of the best baseball movies ever made.

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Back when Kevin Costner made good films, this terrific one about America's two favorite pastimes and the people who love them came out. With an onscreen heat you can practically feel, the film just screams sexy. The minute the opening monologue begins, it's a fascinating and funny insight into human emotion, sex and of course, baseball. Susan Sarandon proves the older woman is eternally sexy with her baseball groupie Annie Savoy. It's not that she's easy, she just picks one player a year to 'mature'. This year there are two promising candidates. One is a fiesty, talented but inexperienced pitcher who is not that bright; the other a seasoned catcher brought in to straighten the rookie out. Ultimately she chooses Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh (Tim Robbins, brilliant as an idiot), the dim but wild (hence 'Nuke') pitcher. The love triangle takes a backseat to baseball but always remains in the foreground. As the film progresses, a winning streak leaves Annie without a man and she soon begins to regret her decision. Finally a wildly sexy and romantic fling with Crash (a volcanic Kevin Costner), the rugged catcher, arrives. While it is the film during which Susan fell for Tim and she shares extraordinary chemistry with both men, the real attraction on-screen is the slow seduction between Annie and Crash. The film is so hot, it usually takes a nice shower afterwards to cool off. Good for those winter nights when baseball isn't in season. And hey, any film that makes baseball this sexy can't be that bad.

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Il Divo (2009)

"Il Divo" is unusual breed of biopic, a mixture of fact and fiction, whose power is in its visual and auditory style rather than in narrative. The subject is Italy's seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who was associated with every major political scandal in Italy for 50 years, frequently accused of murder and mayhem, and rumored to be the true master of the P2 Masonic Lodge. Some believe him responsible for many of the 236 political murders that occurred in Italy between 1969 and 1984. Writer/director Paolo Sorrentino focuses on the early 1990s, from the beginning of Andreotti's seventh government in 1991 until his trial in 1996, during which time he lost a bid to become President and was undermined by Mafia turncoats who testified against him.

Roger Ebert described "Il Divo" as "like a black comedy version of The Godfather". I can't think of a more apt description. This is satire, though many of the events of the film actually happened. Andreotti (Toni Servillo) is almost a comically absurd character, in spite of the violence, and speaks about himself with an ironic tone. This is all the more amazing because Giulio Andreotti is still living. The Italian political system is portrayed as farce. Andreotti is a laconic man, enigmatic and apparently self-consciously so. He is known for his lack of emotion, so Paul Sorrentino felt the need to introduce some into a character that might seem wooden otherwise. Andreotti's preoccupation with the 1978 death of Aldo Moro, which troubles him in the film, is fictional as far as anyone knows.

Being unfamiliar with Italian politics, I don't know what else has been fictionalized. What captivated me about "Il Divo" is that it is unusually cinematic. There is not a lot of dialogue, though Andreotti's meetings with the members of his faction, the fast-talking Paolo Pomicino (Carlo Buccirosso), slow Vittorio Shardella (Massimo Popolizio), and foolish Franco Evangelisti (Flavio Bucci), are darkly hilarious. The film lacks a strong narrative thread but is visually engrossing. Luca Bigazzi's camera creeps around. The eclectic score is perfect. I was never sure what Giulio Andreotti wanted, unless it is "perpetuating evil to guarantee good", as he says, and "Il Divo" takes patience. But this is a stunning and thoughtful film, even if it doesn't try to go anywhere. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

The DVD (MPI 2009): Bonus features include 11 deleted scenes (12 min) and 3 featurettes. "Making of Il Divo" (30 min) interviews writer/director Sorrentino about his approach, members of the cast, producers, cinematographer Luca Bigazzi, and composer Teho Teardo. "Special Effects Featurette" (7 min) interviews visual effects supervisor Nicola Sganga and shows some examples of effects used to change the weather, time of day, or in the many death scenes. In "Interview with Director Paolo Sorrentino" (12 min), the director talks about the character of Andreotti and making a film that is both fictional and factual. English subtitles are available for the film and the bonus features.

Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo) had been elected to Parliament seven times since it's inception in 1946. Having served in multiple roles in the government including President of the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister, Andreotti was known by many names including "The God Giulio," "The Fox," "Beelzebub," "The Black Pope," "The Prince of Darkness," "The Hunchback," and others. After losing a bid for President of the Republic, Andreotti is confronted for allegedly having dealings with the mafia which, among others, led to the death of his friend Aldo Moro. Blamed for many of the ills that have befallen Italy during his times in office, Andreotti is sent to trial for his supposed mafia ties.

Il Divo won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and was released in January of 2009 to US audiences. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, Il Divo is a look into the moral ambiguity of a man who doesn't prize relationships, only politics. Rarely does Giulio Andreotti crack a smile or show any emotion at all, but in Sorrentino's look at the man you see the effects of the emotions that eat away at him from the inside. Surrounding himself with men, good and bad, Andreotti feels that he's doing what's best for the country, even if he gets there by the improper means sometimes. While this works great for a simple character study, is this enough to get audiences beyond those that would normally watch foreign films into it?

Absolutely! Sorrentino gives the film a very stylish flare worthy of Martin Scorsese. Utilizing quick cuts, pop/ rock music, intersting titles, etc. Showing various scenes of graphic violence intercut with more mundane moments in Andreottie's life shows the difference between the calm exterior of Andreotti and the violence that possibly bubbles below leaving you to wonder if Andreotti was behind the violence as was purposed, or did he have nothing to do with it. This is one of the keys to Sorrentino's great film, while we see Andreotti as something of a soulless person for most of the film, we're never really given the filmmaker's opinion of whether Andreotti is guilty or not. Removing himself from the film, Sorrentino accomplishes something most filmmakers are unable to accomplish.

What really makes this movie though, is Toni Servillo's portrayal of Giulio Andreotti. The real trick of this performance is appearing unemotional on the surface, but also showing the current bubbling beneath the surface from past decisions that are eating away at him. In one brilliant moment in the movie, Andreotti appears to be either talking to his wife, or practicing a conversation he's going to have with her, and in essence speaks to the audience talking about things that he's done in the past that have caused people to die, and the speech is brilliant and could easily be compared to Jack Nicholson's "You can't handle the truth..." speech from A Few Good Men.

On the downside of the film though, it's impenetrable in the terms of politics. Il Divo doesn't really try to explain Italian politics, and while that's good to a certain extent, those of us who aren't familiar with Italian politics will get lost at times. Also the film seems more interested in being consciously stylish that it doesn't really feel like it is the political commentary that it tries to be.

But, in terms of entertainment, this movie definitely delivers. If you like political dramas, Scorsese style movies, or foreign films I highly recommend this film. It is thoroughly entertaining giving you a mix of political drama, action, and a character study of a man who would do anything for the politics of a nation.

4/5

Buy Il Divo (2009) Now

"Il Divo," (2008), is an Italian-language film, written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It is a biographical drama about the life of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who had been elected to the Italian Parliament seven times since its establishment in 1946, and was ultimately declared a senator for life. It stars Toni Servillo in the title role. "Il divo" means the maestro, or master, in Italian, and is generally used in a musical sense, but this is apparently what people call the uber-powerful Andreotti, who was rumored to have connections with the Mafia, and to the murder, by the Red Brigades, of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Many people believe Andreotti, who is thought to be a member of P2, the powerful, illegal Italian Masonic lodge, also had a hand in the possible 1978 murder of Pope John Paul I, and the murders of Cardinal Paul Marcinkus, of Chicago, and banker Roberto Calvi, all to do with the Vatican's corrupt Banco Ambrosiano that apparently lost Mafia money.

Servillo does an excellent job of giving us a thoroughly unattractive, evil politician; the character actors who play the supporting parts around him are excellent, as well; and the film does, of course, have subtitles, though I suspect most English speakers will have trouble, even so, with all those Italian names. The settings, whether interiors, or around Rome, are well-done, and there's been no stinting on cars, extras, etc. The script is witty, and wise. However, director Sorrentino perhaps mistrusted his material, as he has chosen to fool around with flashbacks and flash-forwards; to me, this just made the movie even more difficult to follow. And be warned, the film features a lot of blood and death, if that upsets you. Yet, it's also got some marvelously surrealistic scenes, as those of a cat with two different colored eyes wandering the Quirino, the historic Senate building. Undoubtedly, though, it will be a more satisfying experience for those with some familiarity with the language and history of Italy.

Read Best Reviews of Il Divo (2009) Here

IL DIVO is a brilliantly acted and beautifully photographed film with some incredible artwork and design. Paulo Sorrentino's expose of the Italian regime presents both sides of a contentious story in an equal and frank portrayal. Highly reccomend this film to fans of arthouse cinema and anyone who appreciates strong, quality acting and writing.

Want Il Divo (2009) Discount?

"Il divo" (2008) starring Toni Servillo, educates the newer

generations on the powerful Italian politician of the 1960's and

1970's that was Mr. Giulio Andreotti ("GA"). It transcends what he

was about during those years, who he truly was as a man and leader,

how he operated, and how he fell into disfavor.

This film is in Italian, with excellent subtitles in English, is

wide-screen and professionally filmed and edited, with excellent

DVD clarity.

The soundtrack is a mixed bag, with as many hits as misses. The

better audio numbers accompanies the classy footage of ornamented

rooms, luxurious decorations, opulent palaces, gold plated pieces

and sculptures, tiles, handcrafted furniture, high-end chandeliers

etc. Some generic, modest pop songs are played as well so the

public doesn't take all of the hot air or political oneupmanship

too seriously.

The treatment of GA is superficial, judging a book by its cover.

The actor never fails to portray GA as an introverted intellectual

and geek, whose mind is racing 24/7 on events past and present,

never leaving his home with the exception of parties and events

related to his work. During those, he fails to enjoy himself

(dance, drink, chat, eat, gamble, flirt, etc). The story fails to

reveal GA as the brilliant leader he was over a long time, in a

hyper-competitive political field, made up of Machevellian rivals.

Instead, viewers are treated to the disease of "condescension" that

is the mantra of political analysis and mass media, reminiscent of

the dismissive treatment of Mussolini by critics.

Predictably, innuendo reinforces rumors of GA mob involvement -

recreating the "Man of Honor" induction ceremony, spilling drops

of blood on a saint, setting fire to it and juggling it. Those

accusations were not proven. We hear that elections in South Italy

and Sicily are won with mob influence on the public for given

candidates. It says GA was complicit with P2 or Propaganda Due, in

between the Red Brigades violence, on no facts.

The microcosm of GA's life is shown, a world in itself, made up of

businessmen, religious leaders, political friends and foes,

colleagues summed as a closed universe, yet everyone sharing a

unique set of values, education, breed from not only embracing

Italian civilization, but belonging to a power elite.

GA is shown attending church, confession, insisting in having the

Pope's rep in his power clique during private meetings,. His piety

and generosity, responsibility, natural sense of scruples are

shown. The story indicates GA's success hinged on self-control, a

skill to mentally calculate how far he can go to favor people he

imagines as friendly to his ideology and vision, and to block

others that his intuition tells him are against from afar and

nuanced.

In Europe, with its high concentration of people, numerous mass

media, combined with limited education in the general public,

every rubout, hit, economic failure, anarchy, kidnapping, crime and

more is attributed to the prime minister. The story perpetuates

this fallacy, by posting a litany of rubout victims and those who

ended their own lives, over his tenure and blaming GA.

A valid point is made that the Italian justice system is more

transparent than what goes on in the streets.

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Dreamscape (Special Edition) (1984)

Do you ever remember your dreams? I rarely do...unless they are of the really intense kind and I wake up during the dream, and even then the images tend to slip from my conscious like grains of sand through your hand. Why am I bothering telling you this? Well, I needed some kind of opener for my review of Dreamscape (1984), a film that deals with dreams and such, and this was the best I could come up with at the time, lame as it may be...directed by Joseph Ruben, who later did Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) and Money Train (1995), Dreamscape presents quite a cast with Dennis Quaid, Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert, and even George Wendt (Norm!).

Dennis Quaid plays Alex Gardner, a young man of fantastic psychic abilities who has since dropped off the radar, preferring to use his `gifts' to manipulate women and pick winners at the horse track, rather than continuing to subject himself to an endless series of tests meant to study and learn of his abilities, tests conducted by Doctor Paul Novotny (Von Sydow). Seemingly content to squander his skills, Alex's path once again leads him back to Dr. Novotny and his assistant, Jane DeVries (Capshaw) as they've developed a machine that would allow someone with Alex's talents to enter the dreams of others, and possibly help those plagued with reoccurring nightmares, specifically in the President (Albert) who is suffering from apocalyptic dreams that are beginning to affect his ability to do his job. Seemingly concerned with the President's well being, Bob Blair (Plummer), government head of Dr. Novotny's project and shadowy leader of an intelligence group even the CIA fears requests Dr. Novotny assist in relieving the President of these nightmares, but we soon learn he has other plans, plans of a sinister nature involving another, less stable psychic within the project by the name of Tommy Ray Glatman (David Patrick Kelly). Can Alex uncover the plot, help the President, and stay alive? Possibly, but the odds are certainly against him...

Given some of the films that came out in 1984 like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, Amadeus, Footloose, Romancing the Stone, Starman, A Passage to India, and The Killing Fields, it's no surprise this `sleeper' got lost in the shuffle. I've always enjoyed it, and thought it deserved a bit more credit than it's gotten. Dennis Quaid is really good and charming as hell as the smart alecky Alex Gardner, a character who seems to be able to handle himself, yet exhibits a smidgen of naiveté which possibly stems from a core belief of decency, despite his ventures into gray areas, specifically using his skills to determine winners of horse races, earning him money to live. Max Von Sydow is also very good, although I feel as if I've seen him in similar roles so many times before, as a doctor involved in ground-breaking research, not being able to see the forces which conspire to use his research for their own, sinister means until it's too late. As far as Kate Capshaw, I have to admit I've never cared for her all that much as I found her character in Temple of Doom to be highly annoying and distracting. She's not bad here, even though she does suffer from a common malady of the 80's here in big-hairitis syndrome. Plummer is good as the conniving powerful government agent with a secret agenda, although I've seen this whole `evil government stealing research meant for the good of mankind for it's own corrupted means' theme about a thousand times before. Even so, he's perfectly suited for the part, oozing a smarmy, almost quiet charm that hides disturbing ulterior motives...I did like the aspect that his goals were driven mostly by his desire to protect what he thought needed protecting, even if he was misguided by his own sense of twisted patriotism.

The special effects, while seeming quite dated now, were actually very good for the time this film came out, especially the dream sequences of the President detailing post-apocalyptic visions of decimated cities and ruinous wastes. The stop motion work, while not really appreciated by many, is really pretty good and reminds me of those old Ray Harryhausen films I love so much. One thing that annoyed me the most about this release is what's missing due to a hack editing job on a few scenes, all within dream sequences, I suppose, to more aptly fit the movie's PG-13 rating. One scene involved Quaid and Capshaw and a romantic interlude on a train with some pretty steamy stuff, but here it's cut short, removing the nudity. A second edited scene had Quaid inside a mousy man's dream about his wife, which contained some nudity that was excised out of here, and finally another scene has to do with Quaid's character helping a little boy overcome a terrifying reoccurring nightmare about a monstrous snake man. The part removed had a bit of gore in it, but it certainly wasn't anything, in my opinion, that deserved to be removed.

It says the movie is available in full and widescreen anamorphic formats, but I only saw the widescreen format. The picture quality is pretty good, but the transfer print does suffer very minor age deterioration at some points, but it's hardly noticeable. The audio is much better, with Dolby Digital 2.0, new Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 Audio available. Special features include an audio commentary track by producer Bruce Cohn Curtis, writer David Loughery, and special effects artist Craig Reardon that's pretty good, although dry at more than a few points. Also included are a behind the scenes special effects makeup test reel and a slide show. I really wanted to give this four stars, but given that's it missing parts from a few scenes, I have to go with three...

Cookieman108

I love this movie. It was one of the first PG-13 flicks to come out, so when I was a kid this was quite exciting. It had some action, some nudity and a snake-monster all rolled into a fun pseudo sci-fi package.

Imagine my disgust and horror upon discovering that the DVD of the film had been edited for content! Don't believe me? Compare it to the video or laser version. The comical sex dream scene at the beginning has been altered so that there are no breasts. There are also no children watching. This may not seem all that important to you, but I think that this silent trimming is quite insidious. The film is rated PG-13 after all, which means that parents should be cautious about showing it to younger kids. Why then must it be cut without telling us so on the package?

To sum it up, I love the movie, but I hate this version. Hooray for Hollywood.

Buy Dreamscape (Special Edition) (1984) Now

I adore this movie for various reasons; the good script, lots of memorable scenes, and a great cast including the very inviting Capshaw and the very underused Kelly. To me it's not so much the movie's special effects, but the genius story that involves you and make you want to watch it from time to time. -Especially now that it's been letterboxed. However, as good looking as this DVD is, there are a couple of ridiculous cuts. -The kid cutting off the snakeman's head, now with less blood spurting than before. -This cut is rather pointless since there wasn't that much red stuff seen to begin with, and certainly not more than people are used to today. Even worse though, are the changes made to the Homer Simpson guy's dream sequence. -What was before a very amusing bedroom scene, now is shortened to an unfunny mess leaving those who know it uncut perplexed. It really makes no sense to cut this film, when it wasn't before. Who are they trying to protect ?. Just because it's out on DVD, doesn't necessarily mean it's now suddenly more available to folks with small children, does it ?. They've jammed the disc with lots of extra goodies, like a commentary track, but why go to that extent and still cut it ?. Did they plan it for the family market, or what ?. We, the true fans of the movie are left feeling somewhat cheated, and so in the end nobody really wins.

Read Best Reviews of Dreamscape (Special Edition) (1984) Here

I am disgusted that companies can market a movie as a blu ray which implies enhanced sound and picture only to provide you with an unaltered straight from DVD transfer. While the sound was on par with standard DVD audio the picture was horrible. The movie had all the little white static-like spots in every frame as if you were watching a high school reel projector movie. It was VHS quality visuals. Nothing is touched up visually from the original movie. The green screen scenes are obvious. And with barely 5 minutes of extras, most of which are still photos, this can hardly be considered a "special edition" of anything.

Image Entertainment has made a name for themselves releasing IMAX and concert blu rays. Reviews of those discs have me scratching my head as to why they would release "Dreamscape" on blu ray at all when they enhance other films for the blu ray upgrade. It is apparent to me this movie came out to capitalize on the upcoming blu ray release of "A Nightmare On Elm Street" which shares some similar themes.

Do not buy this blu ray. You can purchase the "Special Edition" DVD release here on amazon.com for $6.99 or this movie shows up in the Walmart $5 bin from time to time. There is no difference in the quality of the DVD and blu ray releases except for the price. Someone should prevent these companies from releasing "fake" blu rays at once. And amazon.com should pull this release from their site before someone else makes the same mistake I did and purchases this "fake" blu ray.

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Dreamscape is a fun, if undeniably underrated, thriller from the early 1980s. Dennis Quaid plays a psychic who is recruited into a secret, government-funded operation by Max Von Sydow. Under the direction of Von Sydow and colleague Kate Capshaw, Quaid learns how to enter other people's dreams. Amongst other things, this ability allows Quaid to romance the reluctant Capshaw and to help a small boy who is haunted by nightmares involving a demonic creature known as Snake Man (who, years later, remains one of screen history's scariest monsters). However, Quaid also discovers that the real force behind the project is Presidential advisor Christopher Plummer and Plummer has somewhat more sinister goals in mind for Quaid's newfound abilities. President Eddie Albert, it seems, is having nightmares of his own and there leading him to sign a disarmament pact with the Russians. While Plummer makes plan to send his own personal assassin (David Patrick Kelly) into the President's dreams, Quaid and Capshaw struggle to save the President's life.

Dreamscape is an entertaining film that, luckily, doesn't take itself all that seriously. The film itself is a hybrid of several different genres -part horror film, part political conspiracy thriller, part speculative science fiction, and part comedy and director Joseph Ruben manages to pull of an impressive balancing act by seemlessly integrating all of these elements into a cohesive whole that actually holds together pretty well. Ruben keeps the action moving nicely and brings a truly memorable flair to the film's dream sequences. As stated previously, the Snake Man (a creation that would simply be a cartoonish computer-generated image if the film were made today) is still truly frightening and the President's nightmares, with their images of nuclear devastation, still retain their power to disturb. Ruben also gets uniformly good performances from his cast with special praise going to David Patrick Kelly who creates one of the most memorably quirky and hateful film villians of the 1980s. All in all, Dreamscape is a blast from the past that is more than worth tracking down.

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Shallow Hal (2001)

Being that I am a heavyset person myself, I was able to put that fact aside and appreciate this movie for what it really is. Truthfully, I didn't find this movie funny but I did find a strong message. This movie goes to show that size doesn't have anything to do with the person on the inside. Gwyneth Paltrow's character Rosemary goes to show how underneath all that excess flesh that there is still a person. I think "Shallow Hal" is a movie that helps demolish discrimination against heavyset people. This movie didn't only give examples of heavyset people but of people who were skinny and just not physically attractive to that of one's expectations. Hal is a very shallow character and he is an example of all those people who discriminate against heavyset men and women and people who are not attractive. Like Hal in the movie, people can change and widen their horizons for something more beautiful. "Shallow Hal" is less of a comedy and more of a motivational, moving story about life. I think this is a family friendly movie, something that kids would like as long as the situation is explained to them. Let this movie touch you on several different levels and check it out.

Okay, I sheepishly confess that I watched this DVD expecting to see some patented Farrelly brothers humor: crude, insensitive, and in-your-face. WOW, was I surprised.

This movie is definitely humorous (we laughed out loud at times) but when it's over, you come away with a heightened sense of sensitivity for those people society categorizes as "ugly", "fat" or "undesirable." And if you're not careful, you may just approach life a bit differently once you've watched this excellent movie.

Hal (portrayed wonderfully by Jack Black), and his best friend Mauricio (Jason Alexander) are a couple of obnoxious, shallow guys who make no apologies for their fixation on dating ONLY young, beautiful women. This is tough for both of them, as neither one is particularly good-looking. But, they drive on doggedly in their pursuit of women who are consistently "out of their league."

Everything changes when Hal is stuck in an elevator with a self-motivational guru, who gives Hal a "gift". In fact, Hal is hypnotized; now, he sees a person's inner beauty, not their outward physical appearance. Unattractive or obese women look like supermodels to Hal; and when he approaches them, genuinely attracted to their true beauty, they respond. After years of being unable to connect with beautiful women, suddenly Hal has an unprecedented run of success...only, the women are really not physically attractive, and this is evident to Mauricio, and everyone else...except Hal. In short order, Hal hooks up with Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is smart, funny, caring, and to Hal, stunningly beautiful. One problem: to the rest of the world, Rosemary is a 350-pound behemoth who breaks restaurant furniture simply by sitting on it.

Rosemary and Hal fall madly in love, and it turns out that Rosemary's father is the CEO of Hal's investment company. Taken by Hal's sincerity, and his insightful ideas for improvements to the firm, Rosemary's father promotes Hal to his right-hand man. Everything is going wonderfully for Hal and Rosemary...that is, until Mauricio decides to "rescue" Hal by breaking the hypnosis. What will happen now that Hal can see the REAL Rosemary?

This is a great movie, and can even be watched and appreciated by preteen children. The sexual situations are mild, and there is little or no foul language or nudity. Gwyneth Paltrow, and especially Jack Black, give excellent acting performances. Make it a point to watch and enjoy this DVD. It just might change your life, and make you wish we could ALL see only the "inner beauty" of others. Our world today is much too preoccupied with physical appearance, and other shallow concepts that don't truly matter in the grand scheme of things.

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First published Stanford Daily, Nov 2001.

The Farrelly brothers have done it again. From the makers of such outré comedies as "There's Something About Mary" and "Me, Myself and Irene" comes "Shallow Hal," a comedy with a conscience. Known for movies that feature imperfect men lusting after gorgeous girls with a few laughs thrown in for good measure, the brothers delve a bit deeper this time, seeking to convince us that fat is fun. Jack Black (the crazy music store employee in "High Fidelity") is Hal, a shallow male (if you'll pardon the redundancy) of modest looks, besotted with breasts and waiflike figures. He prefers a girl with just one large breast to one with half a brain. Needless to say, in the true Farrelly tradition, Hal is a loser when it comes to girls.

Hal's messiah is Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who achieves the impossible and makes him see inner beauty. Ergo, Hal moves in a haze, stripping fat women of the excess padding, glossing over manly moustaches etc., to visualize them as the epitome of pulchritude. One such beneficiary of Hal's x-ray vision is Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), who trades her corsets from "Shakespeare in Love" and "Emma" for a fat suit. Despite being well over 300 pounds and gluttonously devouring any source of fat within range, Hal can only see her as the nubile nymphet of his dreams. His consternation at being in a minority of one in his admiration is palpable. Eventually the blinkers fall off, courtesy his shallower pal, the meddling Mauricio (Jason Alexander). The crux of the film lies in how Hal confronts the fat in his femme fatale.

Black's virtuoso performance as Hal makes us squirm. Rosemary, with the fat suit, is ponderously poignant. She shames us with her starkly evident low self-esteem and tame acceptance of stereotypical notions of what passes off as beauty. If only her character had more flesh than fat, the full range of emotions that obese people experience could have been hung out to dry. By resorting to stilted portrayals in black and white of fat people being angelic do-gooders while ugly non-fat people (the ones in this film, barring Jill, can't be called slim), are shallow shysters, the many shades of gray in between are ignored.

Paltrow took a stroll in a New York hotel with the fat suit on, and has been quoted as saying that "...no one was making eye contact with me, or would even look in my direction. No one wanted to connect with me. It was a profound, very sad and startling experience." Some of that sadness is revealed in her portrayal of Rosemary. However, it would however, be a safer bet that UFOs would land at Stanford than to hope that Hollywood would make us laugh and cry in the same movie.

Paltrow looks as radiant as ever. Rather strangely, she reminds one of Phoebe (of "Friends" fame) when she attempts to be goofy. Jack Black has the makings of a star. His Hal is a flawed bungler who is redeemed solely by an inner core of middle-American harmlessness. Rene Kirby as Walt is a casting coup. His joie de vivre is at the heart of the movie's message. Kirby, an ex-IBM employee, was discovered by the Farrellys in a bar in Burlington, as he plodded along on all fours (owing to spina bifida). The character was specifically written for him. Jason Alexander, chubbier than ever, does not disappoint as Mauricio.

The Farrellys have been known for at least one memorable cinematic moment in their movies most notable of course, Ben Stiller's nuts and bolt coming in the way of his zipper, and Cameron Diaz's organic hair gel in "There's Something About Mary." This one has a twist in the tail. Eminently enjoyable.

Read Best Reviews of Shallow Hal (2001) Here

First of all, let me state this: I am myself overweight not obese, but overweight. One of my best friends is morbidly overweight. I found the film, hilarious on several occasions and so did she. I will admit, that she also found it flat for the most part. I won't say it was completely flat, but the film could have been funnier though when it was funny, I thought I would pass out.

Is it offensive to overweight people? Let's look at this in the light it is presented... Jack Black and Jason Alexander's characters are the narrators (so to speak) of the story. Neither one of these guys is in shape and that is key to the story. They are losers who are both trying to prove to the other that they are studs with the ladies, when in truth neither of them can get a date.

In a casting coup, Tony Robbins, the self help guru, sort of brainwashes Jack into only seeing women for who they are inside instead of on the outside. This is something that we should all do, but very very few of actually do. From there forward, Jack only sees women for the beauty within them. The fact that most of the beautiful women he sees are in fact physically unattractive in one way or another, is a point that is actually rather delicately handled. It is a telling point of the filmmakers that one woman that he sees as an old crone, is in reality a gorgeous woman. So what's the point of this? I think the filmmakers actually wanted to show that just because a person is beautiful on the outside, they can be ugly on the inside. Conversely, an unattractive person on the outside can be equally or moreso unattractive on the inside (this is a point that could have been brought out but was not).

Does the film pander to the idea that fat people are jolly, etc.? Yeah. Does it presume that unattractive people are more beautiful on the inside? Yeah.

Is the film politically correct? Who cares! We have all become so overly sensitive that we're a nation of big cry babies. I hope that I am evolved enough that if I countenance something that I don't like I can ignore it and move on. Who's the fool if I let something get under my skin? It's me. My folks taught me to "consider the source" when I was offended by something or someone.

So, if you think you will be offended by this film then don't watch it. No one is holding a gun to your head.

But if you do watch it and get offended then get a thicker skin I can promise you there are going to be many more offensive things in life than this film. In short grow up and get over it!

It's a funny film watch it.

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This movie has a feel-good message, making it enjoyable enough for three stars. It says that we all deserve to be loved even if we're not physically attractive (in what it considers the "conventional" sense). But will it really change anything of what it deems mere "convention"? Will Gwyneth Paltrow go on being an advocate for the inner beauty of obese people and others "conventionally" unattractive? I kind of think not. Her performance here is significant and may display genuine talent. But most likely her future roles will reflect a sense of glamour in slimness as much as ever, meaning nothing was really changed by the movie. Similarly, will Jack Black, after his similarly impressive performance be any more inclined than before to accept an obese woman as a girlfriend? I similarly doubt that. For all its feel-good message, SHALLOW HAL builds us up for a let-down when we realize its lack of realism. Many of us will go on with our inner beauty as underappreciated as ever because of outer appearances, and will still find hard to swallow that suggestion that prevalent standards of beauty run no deeper than convention.

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Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection (Apocalypse Now/Apocalypse Now Redux/One From the Heart/Tet

This four-disc Blu-Ray set offers the previously released Blu-Rays of "Apocalypse Now"/"Apocalypse Now Redux," "The Conversation" and "Tetro" along with the BD debut of Coppola's 1982 famed misfire "One From the Heart." The latter boasts a HD remastered (1.33 fullscreen) transfer with 5.1 DTS MA audio and fine supplements reprieved from the older DVD release, though there is some odd filtering in the transfer throughout (almost looks like you're watching the film through a net, especially if you look closely enough). Still recommended for Coppola enthusiasts, though the fact that the set only includes one new-to-Blu title and isn't comprehensive may restrict its appeal to most buffs (note that "Apocalypse Now" doesn't contain the special features from its three-disc Blu-Ray release either; just the single, "movie only" disc with both cuts of the movie).

What's there to say that hasn't already been said? Here's one of film's great directors, and I am proud to have these films in my collection.

Buy Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection (Apocalypse Now/Apocalypse Now Redux/One From the Heart/Tet Now

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

The very end of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" was more like the end of a play's first act, after which the audience had to endure a nine month intermission. The second act--"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"--begins practically where the last film left off, in which Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) made an unexpected return after Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was swallowed by the kraken. Not surprisingly, such a surprise ending got me all revved up for yet another round of swashbuckling fun, and I spent the year on pins and needles. If only this new film lived up to my expectations: while it is very entertaining, and while it is still worth recommending for sheer escapism, I'd be lying if I said that it matches the quality of the first two films.

Part of the problem is that everything about this film is simply too big. The number of new characters alone is quite distracting, especially since they all make important contributions to the story. The subplots are piled on top of each other, resulting in a film that's needlessly complicated and overly energized. I'd be hard pressed to give a decent synopsis, because in all honestly, I'm not sure I caught on to everything. From what I can gather, it seems that the instigator of this new story is Tia Dalma (Naomi Harris), the mysterious voodoo woman responsible for Barbossa's resurrection (which, in my opinion, was explained far too casually). Apparently, he's one of the nine pirate lords, and the time has come for them to join forces against the elusive (but undeniably evil) East India Trading Company, now under the control of the dastardly Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander).

But one of the lords--our beloved Captain Sparrow--remains lost, body and soul, in Davy Jones' Locker, meaning that Barbossa and regulars Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) have to sail to the ends of the earth to find him. I mean this literally; they eventually spill over a waterfall that would put Niagara Falls to shame. But it seems this is the only way to reach the Locker, which is like a pirate's version of purgatory. We actually get to see this otherworldly realm during one of the film's most baffling scenes; Sparrow is in a surrealistic desert landscape, commanding the Black Pearl crewed by hallucinogenic clones of himself. This scene was constructed with an unwelcome mixture of comedy and pure weirdness, and I simply didn't understand the purpose of it. Was there really no other way to represent purgatory?

By the time Barbossa and the others come to the rescue, Witty Jack has become Funny Jack, which completely works against his character as established in the first film. He was introduced as a flamboyant conniver, undeniably charming and full of biting wit. However, despite a well-developed sense of humor, he was never reduced to pure comedy relief. I can't say the same in terms of "At World's End"; Jack Sparrow has become the main source of the film's humor, ready with slews of one-liners, a seemingly incurable urge to argue, and snappy retorts. I distinctly remember an unnecessary moment with his Good/Bad conscience, classically represented by miniature clones atop his shoulders. Why I remember this, I don't know; it added absolutely nothing to the story, save for a couple of humorous lines.

And then there are the hordes of subplots, all of which prove that every character has at least three hidden agendas. For one thing, the relationship between Will and Elizabeth is suffering: Elizabeth is forced to come clean about her role in Jack's demise; Will is still obsessed with rescuing his father (Stellan Skarsgard) from an eternity of servitude on the Flying Dutchman. Jack and Will fight for the severed, still-beating heart of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) because, in one way or another, they'll both benefit from it being stabbed. Davy Jones, now under the control of Beckett, is both frightened and excited at the prospect of reuniting with Calypso, the sea goddess who broke his heart (literally) before taking on human form (whose form, I dare not say). Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat)--one of the nine pirate lords--takes special interest in both Jack and Elizabeth. Tia Dalma's significance increases dramatically, albeit not in a way that's easily understood; by the time her true nature is revealed, one can't help but wonder what the point was.

Ultimately, it becomes an exhausting process of trying to figure out who's doing what to whom and why. Jack alone changes allegiances more times than I can remember, and each time, he proposes yet another intricate plan that everyone knows is only for his benefit. But that's too limiting; overall, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is an overstuffed film, sure to disappoint--but not entirely let down--both new audiences and diehard fans of the first two films. Still, I'm giving it four stars because it delivers in some very key areas: the special effects are incredible; the basic story between Jack, Will, and Elizabeth is engaging; the action scenes are plentiful and frenetic; Hans Zimmer's score is robust and energetic. And yes, we even get what we've been promised from the very beginning: a special appearance by Keith Richards.

The Pirates of the Caribbean series has been enjoyable from the very beginning. With the incredible non-stop action and good acting. The third in the series is an epic of a movie running over two and a half hours long. If you have not watched the previous two in the series don't bother watching this movie until you have seen those.

The movie starts off with a rather grim intro. Just when you think a hero will get involved they don't. It seems as though the world is doing everything to get rid of pirates. As the journey begins we are then reintroduced to all the wonderful actors that have been involved in this series.

For the pirates to continue on they need their ultimate hero, Captain Jack Sparrow. Although this movie is filled with an all star cast that can't just rely on the heroic antics of Sparrow. I would have to say this movie is filled with action and a lot of violence although not a lot of gore. The movie probably would not be good for small children. So saying this movie is for families is probably a misnomer.

What sets this version apart from the DVD version is the beautiful picture quality and wonderful sound. I was totally impressed with the breath taking picture in this film. Watching it on a big screen t.v. makes it very worthwhile. The movie also comes with uncompressed sound which helps create a lifelike environment that you can only find in the theatres.

In the end I would have to say this movie is not for everyone. The action is non-stop and the violence is continuous. If you haven't watched the other two movies you probably shouldn't view this first since there are a lot of details in the story you wouldn't know otherwise. This is a great film that should be viewed by everyone who has enjoyed the series.

Buy Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) Now

Unless you are a die-hard PotC fan, don't waste extra money on the 2-disc Special Edition thinking it will have hours of extras, behind the scenes, and other extraneous material. It doesn't. With all the features combined, it doesn't even amount to an hour's worth of material. Just buy the standard Pirates 3 DVD, and save $15.00

Unlike the Pirates 2 DVD, there is NO Making-Of Documentary, which was a major letdown. The featurettes on the Pirates 3 DVD are short, and moderately interesting. "The Making of Sao Feng's Map" ?? Yeaah.. greaaat.

How about some background on the many visual effects (Davy Jones, the Black Pearl flipping underwater, Callypso's transformation, the meeting of the two fleets in battle, etc). Instead we get featurettes that are lacking, somewhat boring, and utterly short.

I don't know if it was a budget thing, or what, but most movies with the production scale of Pirates 3 put a camera crew behind the scenes for a mind-blowing making-of.

As for the film itself, it is not as good as Pirates 1&2. They tried to do WAY too much in terms of story. There are far too many characters, storylines, and plot twists. Captain Jack hops through the plot like a game of hopscotch, befriending and betraying just about every character with a speaking role. By the end of the movie, it is tiring, and ultimately detaches the viewer from the overall plot.

Elizabeth's journey in Pirates 3 is unrealistic, even for a fictional movie. You get the feeling that the writers really had no ideas for her character within the framework set by the first movie, so came up with some radical ideas on the fly to try and keep Keira's presence in the film strong.

Will's individual journey to redeem his father and get revenge on Davy Jones is yet another plot thread which detracts from the overall story.

And just when you think the movie can't get anymore intricate, the writers decide to throw the Callypso plot thread in. This doesn't even make sense for the overall story, aside to create the Maelstrom in which there is a 20-minute sequence in. Why couldn't the Maelstrom be created naturally?

I am a huge pirate fan, and fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but ultimately, I was letdown by the conclusion of this trilogy. I did not leave the theater going, "Wow. That was amazing." I actually couldn't wait for the film to end. There was too much thrown in, between the many plotlines, constantly shifting alliances between the characters, Callypso, the Brethren Court, Davy Jones, World's End, etc etc etc. My feelings are that the Writers were flying blind (this is evident in the 2nd Pirates Movie, when Gore Verbinski was days from shooting and the Writers had NO SCRIPT.) I can picture them panicking and throwing together this mish-mash of a plot which in some cases contradicts the framework laid out in the 1st movie.

People say that there is a chance for a Pirates 4. In this age of sequels, I wouldn't doubt it. I just hope they return to the basics and don't try to do insanely huge epics with so many plot turns that the audience actually begins to wish the film would just end. Pirates 1 was the perfect film. They should have stuck to that format.

3 stars.

Read Best Reviews of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) Here

There once was a pirate named Jack

Who was constantly under attack

The last movie's shocker

Sent him to the Locker

The trick now is getting him back

Though hardly a tried and true friend

Barbossa leads them to World's End

It wasn't a squall

But a huge waterfall

That sent the group clean round the bend

Jack's having some deep consultations

With all of his hallucinations

The stones that he grabs

Turn out to be crabs

That live there in vast populations

The Pearl now has too many bosses

As over the waves the ship tosses

At the time of the flash

They upturn with a splash

Leaving Davy Jones counting his losses

The viewer will not be dismayed

To learn that they've all been betrayed

Cross AND double cross

Is how it comes across

As each player has their own crusade

Lord Beckett commands Davy Jones

Who is bound by the heart that he owns

They get into port

For the Brethren Court

Driving fear into the pirates' bones

In an effort to keep things afloat

The pirate lords call for a vote

Jack fiddles the thing

And soon there's a king

Though the king feels more like a scapegoat

Calypso has longed to be free

Once trapped by the pirates' decree

She summons a storm

The ocean to transform

While howling just like a banshee

There's lots more to this soggy tale

With its battle scenes of massive scale

Tales of father and son

And of loves lost and won

But I won't bore you now with detail

New characters give it a boost

Though Keith Richards' role seems quite reduced

Added to that

There's now Chow Yun-Fat

But it's dreadfully over-produced

For almost three hours or more

This movie you'll have to endure

Though perfect in places

It's full of dull spaces

Though I wouldn't say that it's a bore

Rated: 3.5 stars

Amanda Richards, June 3, 2007

Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

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Sure the story is a bit confusing at times, but that just makes me want to see it again. Johnny Depp lacked a little something in Dead Man's Chest, but he is back in true form here. Orlando Bloom has gotten better in the acting department and it was great to see Geoffrey Rush back as Barbossa. I really thought Keira Knightley pulled off the tough chick thing here and that surprised me. The CGI is incredible and the music will have you moving in your seat. Don't listen to the critics and just have a good time with characters we all love.

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Blazing Saddles / Caddyshack / National Lampoon's European Vacation (Triple Feature) (2012)

great movies in one compact case makes more room for more movies on my shelve that makes it easier to get more movies.

A great comdey 3 pack and excellant value for the money. I love all the movies! Blue Ray quality is amazing.

Buy Blazing Saddles / Caddyshack / National Lampoon's European Vacation (Triple Feature) (2012) Now

What can I say? Caddyshack is the greatest golf movie of all time. Don't take my word for it, it has been said by many of the world's greatest golfers. If you don't laugh, you are dead or need a heart transplant. Blazing Saddles has one of the greatest catch phrases of all time. "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges". Ok, it was originally used in "Treasure of Sierra Madre" but it wasn't funny then, it is funny in this film. Finally, European Vacation is just OK. Considering the price of this bundle, I considered Vacation a freebee. Watch these films a dozen times and pee your pants laughing.

Read Best Reviews of Blazing Saddles / Caddyshack / National Lampoon's European Vacation (Triple Feature) (2012) Here

Bought as a gift for my husband.. 3 of his Favorites! Made for a Great Gift! All are very Funny!

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Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (2009) (2009)

I'm floored by the number of reviews here that give this a 1 star review, and then state that they haven't seen the movies. If you actually compare the picture quality with these new BDs to previous DVDs, you do see a vast improvement. Star Trek II, III, and IV have more consistant color and detail then what I saw in the DVDs. In previous editions of ST III, I always noticed an upped contrast in comparison to II and IV: but in this set, it's in line with all the other movies. There seems to be a lot of rumors here about what "Digitally Restored" is over "Digitally Remastered" (as TWOK was the only to get "Digitally Restored"). A digital restoration is when it's accessed that there has to be a new edit of the film due to the state of the print (it could be going in and adjusting color levels for consistancy or even digitally painting out blemishes). It seems Paramount found TWOK to be the only movie in need of a restoration: when you see the other movies on a HDTV, you can easily tell that they are coming from an HD master and not an SD upconversion like some are claiming. They compare favorably to other blu-ray movies from all the big studios. I notice some of the HD interviews are the same interviews taken from the special edition DVDs: it's nice to see them in their original HD resolution (where the studio has obviously been gearing up for HD for several years). Note that there's also some interviews from the special edition DVDs that were shot in SD and have been transfered to this issue (the main one seemed to be ST V). The only gimmick I find with the movies is the "new" 7.1 sound mixes. I don't see the need in mixing 5.1 to 7.1....but the lossless audio does sound great. This blu-ray set is a definite improvement over any other issues of the movies. Issues like DNR or restorations are always subjective; but these transfers are good enough that whenever the movies get a re-issue, I suspect it will be more along the lines of adding more featurettes (or rendering out HD resolutions of the CG shots in the case of TMP).

***Addition****

Since there are still more 1 star reviews, I thought I should address the misinformation about what remastering means in relation to Blu-Ray. It's impossible for any of these movies to have come from a DV (digital video: SD DVD resolution) because studios have been working in 2k resolutions for awhile. A 2k file is 2048 pixels wide by X number high (it's a standard that has varying aspects....with some of my 3D files, I work in 2048x2048). Studios are currently converting to 4k work for new movies and for film restorations of older titles. So the restoration for TWOK might have been scanned at 4k for the 35mm scenes and 8k for the 70mm VFX. The other movies could have been scanned a number of years ago, but the studio would still have masters that are at least 2k resolutions.

Now studios do not author BDs themselves: they go hire companies to do that. So for a genuine HDTV movie, Blu-Ray title, or DVD title the company is getting a copy of the 2k studio master and then remastering for that particular medium: for Blu-Ray, they rescale and process the image to be 1920x1080 at 24 fps....for HDTV, they rescale to 1920x1080 60I, and for DVD, they rescale to 720x480. At this stage, the authoring company then adds particular DNR and compression appropriate for for the medium. When it comes to DNR, some people are more against it then others. I personally don't feel the DNR is that bad here: there are some scenes in these movies that weren't processed the way I'd like them to....but if they ever do get a remaster, it's going to be at the HD level: the studio master is unadulterated.

To conclude my thoughts....it's a pity that the reviews here are getting dragged down by mis-information. I gave this set a 4 star review simply because I save 5 stars for the extremely good titles on BD. If you have a 100" TV, then maybe you want to wait for another HD remaster with less DNR. I'm not as anti-DNR as others....but I'd say that it's not as bad as some make it out to be: I still see plenty of grain for appropriate scenes, and there's not huge edge enhancement going on during scenes with too much softfocus. And for me, the softfocus issues (only in certain scenes) and certain cinematography effects are a lot more glaring then DNR: things that were harder to pick up back when these movies were made, and something that's niether correctable in a transfer and is more clearly evident in HD. For a 110" TV DNR issues might be more overwhelming, but for my more modest TV set with great 7.1 sound system, I'd say this is a no brainer purchase for any passing fan of the series. The movies are marred by some production values that prevent this set from being a "demo" set, but I think the transfers do more closely reflect the studio masters. All of the movies have never looked or sounded as good: they should be stunning for any passing fan of Star Trek.

"Mr. Sulu, Impulse power."

I thought this might help, as there is very little info from Amazon on this product. This review is mostly for the content of this STANDARD DEFINITION 7 Disc ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE COLLECTION Box Set released Sept. 22, 2009.

Obviously, these are the 6 Original Paramount films with the Original Series cast.

STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE

THE WRATH OF KHAN

THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

THE VOYAGE HOME

THE FINAL FRONTIER

and THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

Every film in this set is the Original Widescreen Theatrical Version. The 7th Bonus Disc is THE CAPTAINS' SUMMIT. A 70 minute round table discussion with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and host Whoopi Goldberg.

Each Movie Disc includes commentaries, a few short Special Features, and NO theatrical trailers. The Insert Card states: 2 1/2 hours of Special Features. My guess is that they're leftovers from the previous 2 Disc Editions for each film, none of which I've ever owned. So, don't take my word for it. (Anyone that thinks 5 Stars may be too generous for this Edition, I only really care about the films. And, the way they look and sound. SFs are of secondary concern to me.)

Sound for all the films is 5.1 Dolby Digital EX and maintains a good presence. There is NO 2.1 or DTS setting. As usual with big studio blockbusters, music is too far forward in the mix for my taste, and dialogue is at a lower volume. (For optimal home theater playback, your center channel should always be set at a hotter level than your front speakers. Here's a good starting point for louder films: The individual speaker volume levels for my surround receiver go to 12. Please, no Spinal Tap jokes. I usually leave my L/R front speakers at level 4, and make my center channel all-the-way hot at 12. I always leave my rear effects speakers at 8 or 10. My Velodyne subwoofer is usually set at -7 because I have neighbors, and the darn thing really pumps those ultra low earthquake frequencies.)

The transfers look EXCELLENT. I've perused them all, but I have only viewed the FIRST film in its entirety. Very nice. Good color timing. (NOSTALGIA ALERT: I really appreciate the primitive Special Effects, models, matte painting, and miniature photography of this era. With the advent of CG, these kinds of photographic effects are a rarity these days. The wormhole sequence is still awesome, and the VGER probe scene still looks really cool. I can't wait to view the rest of the films. Especially THE WRATH OF KHAN!)

This Box Set is a very handsome Edition. Each Disc comes in an ultra thin slipcase with a different cast member in silver on the cover of each case, with Shatner's photo on the Bonus Disc. (I would have preferred the Original movie poster art for each film, but the design is unique for this Edition.)

The Box has a 3D Trek logo on the front, is only 2" deep, and doesn't take up much shelf space. The entire Box is covered with a transparent slipcover that is open on the top and bottom. (CAREFUL: The insert card is glued to the outside and the bottom of the Box. If it comes off, the entire Box can fall thru the bottom of the outer slipcover and crash onto the floor. Remove it, put it under the slipcover, or throw it away.)

A very affordable way to own the 6 Original films.

SPOCK LIVES!

Enjoy.

Buy Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (2009) (2009) Now

Having just gone through my set of the Blu-Rays, I'm very happily surprised at the content. The only aspect keeping this from being a 4 or 5 star review is the fact that only the theatrical versions are available. Blu-Ray is specifically made to hold a great deal more data than any prior video or DVD format. Aside from the issues regarding the new effects of the director's cut of TMP, there's little reason (other than monetary) for Paramount to hold back the extended cuts. Seamless branching, used so successfully on the TOS first season set, would work equally well here.

The Motion Picture is another story, since the new effects were rendered for lower resolution and it will take time and, of course, money to rerender them. We can expect to see a Director's Edition release on BD in the near future, I'm sure. However, this does not excuse the lack of the inclusion of the extended TV cut put out on video.

Having said that, it is an amazing thrill having the theatrical cuts of The Motion Picture, and The Undiscovered Country on disc for the first time ever. TUC was NEVER seen in this version since its original release and until today, I had totally forgotten how good a film it was. Many fans enjoy the additional scenes, but I always felt they brought the film down some. The scenes were obvious and amped up the silliness fact in a film that very much needed to be played straight. The two video versions really brought the maturity level of the story down some notches.

Now, however, we once again see the film as originally released 18 years ago (oh God, it's been that long). Over the years, the film had become less enjoyable and fallen down the ranks in my personal list of favorites. None of the other had, but this one a film I really loved in the theater had dropped in favor. Now, having watched it again from beginning to end, I found I loved the film once more. The story is tighter and less obvious. These changes were not major, but they made an impact. This is the best movie for the cast to exit on and is once more a 4 star film to me.

The Motion Picture: it's great to see this movie in this format again, as released without alteration. However, this film is more problematic. The extended version was just a "longer cut" with some great scenes added, but none of the fat trimmed (these scenes are included in the extras). The Directors Cut was better paced and more tightly edited and also added some amazing effects to cover some of the less successful work in the picture, but they also lost bits that made the film unique which weren't "bad." Since there never actually was a "perfect" version of this film, it's vital all three versions should be made available (or maybe someone should redo the DE).

The Wrath of Kahn: again the theatrical cut and, as we all know, this film had the full restoration, presumably because the master elements needed it badly while the other films were fine. I'll comment on picture shortly, but let's just say this is a fantastic presentation of the movie.

Finally The Search for Spock, my favorite Trek film. For those who notice such things, the video versions always screwed up the opening credits. The VHS version had them replaced by "video graphics" which looked like a cheap, high school AV squad attempt to make Star Trek movie credits. The wide screen VHS and laserdiscs were much better, givings us the titles seen in the film. However, the DVDs had a "glitched" version of the titles, with the timing off badly. It's tough to explain, but if you compare the BD and the DVD opening credits, you'll see them. And since this is my all time favorite Trek film, one I saw in the theater 7 times and memorized with obsessive Trekkie abandon, you can imagine my thrill when I saw the BD version corrected the credits. Ahhhh! :-)

Okay, my impression of the picture quality. There's been a lot said about the excessive digital noise reduction Paramount slathered on the films. I was expecting some bad stuff when I fired up my 52 inch HDTV. You know what I got? An amazing picture every time. The level of sharpness and clarity to these films is a revelation! I had NEVER seen these films looking so amazingly sharp and detailed. The Wrath of Kahn, which as noted got the real restoration, is very nice, but I didn't notice a huge difference between this restoration and the other films. Mostly, I noticed the print was a little darker than prior prints and the other films. The blacks do hold up well on BD, better than on HD-DVD, to my surprise.

I have read that those who watch the movies on HUGE screens will notice the DNR, I have to say that my 52 inch, which I sit 6 to 8 feet away from, does not reveal any obvious dullness. And, really, I would assume the great majority of people don't go much larger than 52 inch (unless you have a mansion and more money than God). Honestly, I have no issues with the picture quality, and can wholeheartedly give the picture a thumbs up.

The sound is also extremely impressive. The dialog is not lost among the music and sound effects, like so many other HD presentations. The muddiness in much of Kahn and The Search for Spock is not as strong, and the music score for the films never sounded so good.

The subtitles for various alien languages are, however, disc generated, not embedded in the films. So the "species centric" fonts are lost (and, I guess, really doesn't make these true theatrical cuts). However, they are not obviously bad or "video titles" and won't stand out to people not that familiar or who don't care.

To sum up: the only disappointment is in the fact that there's plenty of room for all versions of the films, either side by side or through branching, so (aside from the DE of TMP), there's no reason to have left them out. Having all versions would justify the price tag of this double or triple dip. Especially since you know Paramount will release these again with these versions included.

Otherwise, it's a great set. The theatrical cuts are the versions I fell in love with and it's great to have them back. The picture is outstanding, with refreshing sharpness and clarity, while the sound mix is comfortable and satisfying.

5 stars for the presentation

Subtract 2 stars for leaving out the alternate versions.

For fans of the original cuts, this is an essential set. It's up to you to decide if you want to hold out for the next and probably more complete release of these films.

Read Best Reviews of Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (2009) (2009) Here

Firstly we are very fortunate in Australia that we get this set around 2 weeks before the US. The price we pay however is that the set costs nearly double here what it is on Amazon (and that is adjusted for the currency difference). And despite this I am still calling it a worthwhile upgrade

Firstly the good. The movies look about as good as you can reasonably expect. For something that did not go through a Lowry or equivalent frame by frame meticulous restoration this is a good looking set of movies overall (with some reservations as explained below).

As of writing I have only had a chance to fully view the first film and sample parts of II and IV. The Motion Picture was thoroughly impressive. Given low expecations that it was not a restoration like Wrath of Khan I did not expect much. The visuals were thoroughly engaging and the transfer looks like it was done off of a freshly minted print especially for this transfer. There was a visible lack of marks and scratches on the film. Do a compare against the Director's Cut DVD and you'll see a huge number of blemishes on that version. Interestingly the striking visuals of the Theatrical Version were more compelling visually (and more authentic) than the Director's Edition on DVD. For the record I DO NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE but found it compelling viewing until the last act (which becomes a little much). The visual upgrade finally shows what Robert Wise was going for as far as impressive optical effects and these hold up surprisingly well 30 years later. So #1 was a worthwhile watch, prob the most i ever enjoyed this film. The sound was also decent. Not the full range effort of today's best transfers but pleasing enough with generally clear dialogue. I also briefly sampled The Voyage Home and it was generally a pleasing transfer with a solid soundtrack. The upgrade becomes more noticeable if you then compare to the previous DVD editions. You'll find these hard to watch after Blu Ray.

Now for the not so good. Yes, these are theatrical versions and truth be told probably the optimal versions to watch (tighter, less self indulgent and "original") but it would be nice to have the choice of the Dir ed or original for completeness. However the most disappointing thing about this set (so far) has been Khan. The packaging notes that this is a fully restored transfer. When putting it in the Blu Ray player I started wondering whether someone substituted the disc on me. From the first half hour or so I watched I noticed the image had a noticeable degradation from the first movie. Likely due to the lower production budget and likely lower quality film stock used. The image had a noticeable lack of sharpness compared to the first film, the sound was rather hollow (seemed like less ADR and more location dialogue, that was at times hard to understand). If this is a restoration I'd hate to see the state of the original elements and I have to wonder whether the restoration work could have been done a lot better. I expected a real showcase for what is considered the best film in the series and so far I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Again it's better than the DVD edition but should be a lot further improved.

The other noticeable thing was the excessive use of video noise reduction or otherwise known as grain removal (esp noticeable on The Voyage Home). The transfer there was generally good, but the grain removal made all the faces look like they were rendered with putty. Unnatural and overly smooth. This made the film less engaging as subtle facial expressions are lost (or rather smeared away). The sound here also lacked the depth you would want to hear from the best High Def transfer.

But, on the whole anyone who likes their Trek should consider picking these up. Even if there is a double, or triple dip coming you can enjoy the films now in the finest quality and technology available today. In our case you pay an arm and a leg for the luxury, but hey...Life is too short. And when they release a superior edition with more compelling content, i'll probably buy it again...and then again a few years later when they come up with something better again. We keep buying new versions of software that are just different enough to warrant a respurchase why would film be any different?

My vote good enough for now, but could have been so much better...

Want Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (2009) (2009) Discount?

I had pre-ordered this item, and then saw some early reviews around the web stating that the video quality wasn't up to snuff. I canceled my order, and put the discs on my Netflix queue instead to evaluate them before purchase.

Well, I re-ordered the set. Let me tell you why.

The Films:

The Trek films, to my mind, are a very good capstone to the Original Series Trek characters' stories. In them, we are presented with a very good "trilogy" of sorts, ST2-4, and a few other films that retain the thematic elements of the others whilst enjoying varying quality of story.

The Motion Picture (ST1) is unfairly maligned in my eyes. It very ably presents a story of characters re-uniting after a hiatus, with all the varying emotional consequences of that separation. Grafted to this is a relatively high-concept science fiction tale of an artificial intelligence seeking its creator. If this film had been cut by 20 minutes (very long effects sequences which seem a deliberate paean to Kubrick's "2001"), people would be hailing it as a masterpiece.

ST2: The Wrath of Khan is, of course, the public's pick as the greatest Trek film. It's hard to argue. A good villain, a deep emotional core, a slam-bang space battle, and some great performances make this a film that doesn't really misfire.

ST3: The Search For Spock is the middle act of a "trilogy", and really works in my opinion. It has a lot of action, a good dose of humor, and a lot of heart.

ST4: The Voyage Home is unbridled fun from start to finish. Lighter in tone than the preceding two films, it still captures the emotional core of the story, and brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.

ST5: The Final Frontier is the black sheep of the family. It introduces an unfortunate "retcon" character, does some unrealistic things in its quest to reach the "center of the galaxy," and posits an unsatisfying sci-fi story about "finding god." The characterizations are still generally good, though, and there are plenty of charming moments for fans.

ST6: The Undiscovered Country is a return to form of sorts, but I think would not be regarded as highly if it had not followed ST5. A cold-war allegory, it has some good action, but suffers from some silly sequences in the middle (a prison planet and a murder mystery spring to mind). It does have Captain Sulu, though, which is hard to dislike.

The Blu-Ray:

Well, first I'll list the negatives:

We are not presented with the "directors editions" from the last DVD box set. Thus we miss some new effects shots from ST1, one very good bit of back story from ST2, and a few negligible cuts from the rest of the films (mainly 6).

Digital Noise Reduction has been applied to at least the final 4 films and the results are not always positive. Grain has been reduced from the films with negative results some very fine detail (such as fine facial wrinkles) is scrubbed away also. It probably will not be noticeable on displays under 40 inches and I imagine it would be quite noticeable on front projection screens above 80 inches. I personally noticed it in spots on my 50" display, especially on Star Trek 4. ST4 comes off by far the worst, with many faces looking waxy and other scenes being artificially pumped up by edge enhancement to compensate (check out Kirk and Spock walking by the boat dock before Gillian picks them up). I would say ST4 and ST6 suffer the most by the out of control noise reduction. You can really see it when smoke is in a scene check out the scene in ST6 when Kirk smokes a cigar. As the smoke wafts in front of his face, you can see pores and lines under the eyes that are absent in the very next shot sans smoke. It's that extra little layer of detail we could have had, and it's missing.

The double dip conundrum: we are certain to be presented with a new set, although I will go on record betting it won't be before Xmas 2010, if even that soon. Paramount will be putting out the Abrams film this year, Seasons 2-3 of TOS this year, and the TNG movies probably next year. Surely there will be a complete box set at some point, incorporating the "directors edition" footage, but I would guess that this will not be released until the 2nd Abrams film hits theaters. It seems to takes upwards of a year to re-transfer and restore a film, the Directors footage has to be re-shot in 1080p, and logically, Paramount would not cannibalize their current retail SKUs by so quickly re-releasing them. So I would guess 2012 would be the soonest we'd see the "directors editions" with new, hopefully less DNR'ed transfers.

All right, now the good news:

These films have never looked this good. NEVER. ST1 is revelatory there are colors I've never seen, and DNR is not obtrusive at all fine detail seems quite evident. ST2, which apparently had the latest transfer, does not suffer from excessive DNR. ST3-6 are the films that have the most aggressive noise reduction, but it is only noticeable in select scenes (I am watching on a 50" 1080p display). For the most part, detail is quite strong (especially for movies shot in the 1980s), color depth blows away the DVDs (you really should compare them prepare to be dazzled), and sound quality is excellent. The worst looking of these films look as good as the best cable TV HD. The best of them (1 and 2) are competitive with some of the better Blu-Rays on the market now. Just to correct some misinformation from previous reviews, all the films are presented in 1080p. None of them are 1080i, or anything less. Also, all of the films are truly high definition. They are not some sort of pseudo-HD, as one particularly egregious review has claimed.

So it's hit or miss in terms of A/V, but light years ahead of the DVDs. The biggest gains are in color the DVDs are positively muddy by comparison. ST 1, 2, and 5 generally look pretty good detail-wise. The other films suffer from waxy faces they have strong mid-range detail (like cloth textures or scenery), but weak fine detail (like facial wrinkles). It is aggravating, because the films look so good in general, that the little details are washed away.

Extras are VERY strong. Each film gets new commentaries, and most retain a second commentary as well. MANY new documentaries supplement the older ones which are retained for this set (I would estimate about 100 minutes per film combining old and new content). "Library Computer" offers interactive text data while you watch the films. BD Live functions include the ability to create and take fan quizzes with your remote and internet connection. The one giant new inclusion, "The Captains Summit," is presented on its own disc in full HD quality. This is a 70 minute round table, hosted by Whoopie (Guinan) Goldberg, featuring actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart(Picard) and Jonathan Frakes (Riker). Wow! It is oddly titled, and I wish that they had included Kate Mulgrew (Janeway), Scott Bakula (Archer), and Avery Brooks (Sisko). The interview was a bit directionless at times, with Goldberg failing to keep her guests on track. Nonetheless, the actors are generally funny and at times engaging and insightful, and true fans will eat this up.

Atypically for CBS/Paramount, the packaging for this set is very nice. A cardboard box with a plastic slipcover holds the Blu-Ray cases, which are all of the "slim" variety. Thus, the set takes up the space of only about 3 regular Blu-Ray cases, despite having seven discs. Separate cases, though, allow you to lend out one disc, and there is never any fumbling around with the elaborate multi-disc cases that often comprise these sets.

******

In summary, it comes down to a value proposition. At Amazon's reduced price, you're getting the theatrical cuts of the films, better than they've ever looked, for $11.65 apiece. I know I've paid more for films I care about a lot less. There probably won't be superior presentations of them for at least 3 years. So for a serious Trekkie, the math is simple. This is a purchase.

For a general sci-fi fan with an HD setup, it's a maybe. If you're the type who's willing to buy "Chronicles of Riddick" for $20 just to have something HD to watch with spaceships and explosions, it's hard to see the argument against this set. If you're a new Trek fan who wants to dive in, this value is hard to beat. If you don't care much about Trek, this might be a pass, since intimate knowledge and interest for the characters really helps your enjoyment of the films.

The haters need to calm down. No, this is not a perfect set. But at this price, it is still a very strong value. The missing material is not really integral to enjoying the films (unlike the LOTR set without the Extended Edition material now THAT is a significant loss). If you want to see the films for the next 3 or 4 years at their best, this is the set to get. Otherwise, you're stuck with the dull, muddy DVD transfers for at least that long. When it comes time for the double-dip in 2012, the only ones that will probably warrant a re-purchase are 1 and 2, since they gained the most from the "Directors Edition" material.

I would have rated this 3 stars had it been significantly more expensive, or had significantly fewer extras. But for $11-$13 (depending on the set's price) per movie, I'm willing to take the plunge, come what may. I think this set is a worthwhile purchase at either price point, and I would have placed the order at 79.99 as well.