Pet Sematary (1989)

First off, this is the scariest movie I have ever seen. It may not be so for everyone (and I know comments like that often get you a "0 out 0f 30 people found this helpful" but so be it) but if you like King's visceral, deep-seated horror, I recommend it.

The town, the graveyard, the music, the mist everywhere, the monstrous undead animals and the people all make this a frightening ensemble for me. I have to concur with many of the reviewers about the Zelda character (who was incidentally played by a man named Andrew Hubatsek). There's something so phenomenally horrifying about that character to me that I can actually say I have trouble watching the movie, and certainly never again alone. I find those sequences truly terrifying. The flashbacks of Timmy Baderman (sp?) are also scary.

Furthermore, I agree with many of you that this is a different experience from the book, which I also recommend for added terror. I read the book in broad daylight in a friend's house in Hollywood and I still felt like I was alone in the woods at night.

Highly recommend the film to fans of horror, though it might not be your thing if you just dig slashers. DVD completely lacks features, so for the format itself I'd give 2 stars.

It has been the candid observation of numerous film critics that the works of literary horror maven Stephen King don't often translate well to the screen. But when they DO work, man do they WORK! PET SEMATARY is a prime example. Though some of the details of the King masterwork had to be pared down--as is often the case when well-written literature is made to fit into a two-hour visual narrative--this film captures perfectly the spine-tingling essence and atmosphere of the original novel. As with many King cinematic adaptations, it HELPS if you've already read the book. But with a really good one like PET SEMATARY, familiarity with the book is absolutely NOT a prerequisite.

PET SEMATARY tells the story of the Creeds, a young nuclear family who has moved from the Midwest to a small college town in Maine. They take up residence in a old country house a few miles outside the town, and it isn't long before they become friendly with their new neighbor, a bucolic but agreeable old coot named Jud who lives across the street. Jud quickly alerts them to the fact that the road between their two houses is a busy rural highway, and he therefore warns them to be always mindful of their young children and the family cat. Many a pet has ended up in the nearby pet "sematary," Jud explains, due to an unscheduled meeting with a speeding truck or car on that infernal highway.

Inevitably, the Creeds' cat, Church, joins the roadkill ranks, but only the father, Louis Creed, is at home when this happens. Neighborly Jud worries about how the Creed children will take the news, so he decides to let Louis in on secret. Just beyond the nearby cemetery where the children of ages past have buried their beloved pets, Jud tells Louis, is another cemetery that was long ago held sacred by the Native Americans once indigenous to the region. Local legend has it that when you bury your dead there, they will return to life before the end of the following day. Sometimes there is a price to pay for this magic, says Jud, as the dead don't always come back exactly the way they were before they died. Nonetheless, Jud thinks it is worth the risk if they can protect the Creed children from the pain of losing a cherished pet. Being a physician, Louis is understandably skeptical, but he humors his elderly friend and, with the stiffened body of Church in hand, follows Jud up to the "magical" burial grounds.

Much to the surprise of Louis, Church does indeed arrive on the Creed doorstep the next morning. In some intangible way, though, Church seems different--no longer a loving feline, but instead stealthy, aloof, and easily provoked to anger. Jud tells Louis to try to ignore theses differences, and he suggests that if Louis remains mum about Church's resurrection, the rest of the family will never know their little secret.

Of course, as one might guess, it isn't long before one of the Creed children meets his fate on the highly trafficked road. But dare the grieving Louis bury his son in the sacred soil of the Indian cemetery? And if he does, will what worked for a cat work for a human? If so, at what price?

PET SEMATARY is a very satisfying horror film that offers the requisite spooky ambiance, frightful imagery, and outright scares, and all without requiring much effort to suspend one's disbelief. Part of the reason the filmmakers pull this one off is, of course, due to the excellent job that King has done in his adaptation of his own novel. But the lion's share of the credit goes to the excellent performances from the cast. TV actor Dale Midkiff, whose acting style usually teeters on the histrionic, here turns in a subtle yet compelling performance as the family patriarch, Dr. Louis Creed. Even when things get really intense for his character, Midkiff maintains control and convincingly delivers the reactions of an educated, loving father who is grasping for a rational means of rescuing his family from a dangerously surreal situation. Denise Crosby--better known to SF fans as STAR TREK's Tasha Yar--also does an unusually good job portraying Louis' perky upper-middle-class wife.

It is the performance of Fred Gwynne that really makes the show, however. Genre fans know Gwynne from his role as Herman in TV's classic horror-themed sitcom THE MUNSTERS. As the rustic and lovable Jud, Gwynne stretches his thespian skills way beyond the limits of the slapstick of THE MUNSTERS to create a credible and convincing elderly Maine farmer. Gwynne could easily take it over the top and upstage his fellow actors here, but he instead keeps it honest and subdued and thereby makes a significant contribution towards pulling the audience into the fantasy of the filmic narrative.

As with many of Paramount's DVDs, this disc is sparse on extras. However, the digital transfer (for the widescreen anamorphic edition) was made from a very clean print, and both the picture and sound quality are great. For King fans and fans of great cinematic horror, owning this film is a must!

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After reading Stephen King's novel "Pet Sematary" and being a little disturbed by it, I figured that I would rent the movie to see what a terrible adaptation some money-hungry fellow made. After viewing the film I was quite surprised. The first half of the film starts out nice with a happy family enjoying thier new rural home. But then we see the second half of the film in which all turns to hell. After Gage is killed you can't help but feel bad, no one wants to see a boy that cute skin his knee let alone what happens to him in this film. The performances in the film were mostly well done, especially from Fred Gwynne (Jud Crandall), Denise Crosby (Rachel Creed) & Miko Hughes (Gage Creed). The Pet Sematary novel was meant to be disturbing, and this film certainly is just that. Most likely the reason people hate this film and think it's sick is because they too were disturbed by it. It's definitely not a film to give you a positive outlook on life, but I guess that's what makes it such an effective horror film.

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It was 1989. I was 14 and I thought that Pet Sematary was one of the best movies I'd ever seen. It hasn't aged well. Or rather, I have aged out of it. Upon a recent viewing I came to the unsettling conclusion that this film, despite its horrific subject matter, is basically aimed at a young audience; intentionally or not.

Most of the problem is with King's screenplay. Whatever literary strengths he has, they do not translate to film. (Maximum Overdrive...nuff said) It seems that King has very little respect for film goers. He seems to have some respect for film as a medium, but the viewers themselves he writes down to. Look at The Shining, for instance. For years King complained about and trashed Kubrick's classic adaptation. Then King himself finally remade The Shining and he removed all subtlety, crafting a sappy TV mini-series that pandered rather than entertained. Perhaps King likes bad film adaptations, lest a superior film overshadows his work, as is the case with Kubrick's The Shining IMO.

His screenplay for Pet Sematary is up to the same tricks. King does not bother with characterization, he just shoehorns in the books most horrific scenes and pumps them up in some cases (Victor Pascow being the worst offense, he appears once or twice in the book, but in the film the guy is all over the place, doing some sort of stand up comic zombie routine that gets old quick.) He just sort of hopes that characterization will be implied I guess. He also worked in the "spring loaded cat" jump scare several times. You can't disrespect an audiences intelligence much more than that.

The worst part is that none of it makes very much sense. In the book, King went to great lengths to make you believe in his story and it works. Here, King just seems to be shoveling out the story as fast as he can, making story revisions and additions that have no logic in and of themselves and that contaminate the internal logic of the parts of the story that should work. Again, the Pascow angle is the main offender here. In the book he gives a simple warning. It's up to Louis Creed to make the decisions. In the film Pascow becomes an active force that just screws everything up worse with his meddling as he keeps coming back to help out and only ends up helping out the evil force in the MicMac burial ground. Not a very good result for an emissary send from beyond the grave by "higher forces". This is just one example of how little sense the film makes, I could go on for pages and pages. It seems King had his brain turned off while churning out this screenplay. Gone are all of the weighty themes the book explored, only to be replaced by thoughtless illogical attempts to pump up the opportunity to show more ghosts and guts and blood.

King has said that he does not like Pet Sematary as a book. I guess that's understandable. King is, at heart, an optimist. Pet Sematary was his one foray into real pessimistic horror. Perhaps he just felt like turning it into a big joke on those grounds.

I don't have anything bad to say about director Mary Lambert. She did a damn good job considering the screenplay she was working from. In King's original screenplay King tried to rework Jud's character. He wore trendy clothing and listened to the latest rock music on his walkman...you know, so the kids would think how cool this old guy was. Well, if Mary had anything to do with excising that particular bit of cynical pandering...then more points to her. When Stephen King comes along with his own screenplay, and it's a cartoony carnival spook show...well I suppose as a director you give him what you think he wants. Unless you want to end up like Kubrick, listening to this writer whine and complain about you for the rest of either of your natural lives.

The acting here is adequate. Fred Gwynne steals the show, and is largely the only thing that holds it all together. Dale Midkiff does some wonderful round the bend acting towards the finale. Brad Greenquist is having (too much} fun playing the ghost of Pascow, but for what it is its good acting. The only actor who truly made me feel emotion though was Michael Lombard as Rachel Creed's father. I guess he didn't get the memo that this was all goofy fun because his heartbreak at Gage's funeral is keenly felt. Too bad the rest of them didn't miss the memo as well. In short, the actors did what they were asked to do and they did it well for the most part. No real complaints. Unless you're just a jerk that likes to pick on child actors and the like.

Pet Sematary does have a lot going for it though. For one, it's original. Ok not totally original, you will still hear people saying King ripped off his book from a film called Zeder. A movie you've probably never even heard of (and I doubt King had either when he wrote the story) so it's original enough. Especially for the well worn cliches of the endlessly recycled horror genre. It's also very dark. Even with the cartoony gloss smeared all over the film, it's still considered morbid, mean-spirited, bleak, and nihilistic. I don't consider these bad things, especially for the horror genre, except maybe the charge of mean-spiritedness...which does hold some weight. The film does seem to lack a heart...perhaps of any kind, mean-spirited or otherwise.

Perhaps it had to be this way. 1989 was not likely to be a good year for any mainstream film to be so dark and realistic at the same time. Without suppressing the realism it may have been just too much to remain mainstream, which it pretty much had to be considering it was a King vehicle. Mr King is Hollywood's dependable horror whore after-all. No sense making a film with artistic merit that might lower the profit margin.

It's unfortunate, because if it had been allowed to show the same sort of realism that, say, William Friedkin had brought to The Exorcist, this very well may have become a horror classic for the ages, instead of just another (above average) goofy 80's carnival gore show.

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Pet Sematary is by far the most disturbing horror film I have ever seen. From the creepy opening credits to the tragic ending you will either be creeped out or disturbed by this movie. The most unnerving part of the film is that you can't root for the killers demise because he is an innocent little boy who did nothing to deserve what happened to him, it is a complete injustice. The fact that Rachel Creed (Denise Crosby) is seen with red, swollen, tear filled eyes after her little boy is taken away from her only makes the tragedy seem real. As well, the flashbacks of the Ludlow town's hidden secrets, told by Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne), are intriguing and make you wonder why people wouldn't move far away from that place. Having picked the cutest little boy to portray the tragic role of Gage Creed (Miko Hughes) is one thing, but him giving such an outstanding performance at the age of 29 months is incredible...incidentally it took 2 girls to play the role of Ellie Creed! All in all this film is great for people who can stand emotionally unsettling situations, it is truely a horror film.

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Wild Hogs (2007)

I am not one to usually write reviews on movies, and I can't stand the people who try to analyze every little aspect of movies and write novels of their opinions instead of just enjoying them for what they are entertainment!! That being said, I saw this with my mom, and I thought we would fall out of our chairs we were laughing so hard! I LOVE funny movies, and VERY rarely do I see one that makes me laugh this hard, so I just had to write this since the critics were so awful to this movie. Travolta, Allen, Lawrence and Macy are great together, and I didn't know that Ray Liotta (one of my faves!) was in the movie. This just made it even better! The entire movie was excellent I can't wait to buy the DVD in August!

Wild Hogs is a typical midlife crisis movie. Four men, who have been friends for years and who suit up in leather and ride to the local bar and grill regularly to hang out, suddenly wonder what happened to their lives. They all realize, one by one, that they've hit middle age and fallen into a rut, and they decide to take a cross country trip on their bikes to get out of it.

This is one of the more entertaining movies I've seen in a while. What made it for me, however, was not the plot or even the comedic moments but rather the excellent performances by a great cast. John Travolta plays the cool-guy-in-a-midlife-crisis role perfectly, and Tim Allen pulls off his when-did-my-life-get-so-bland part flawlessly as well. Throw in great performances by Martin Lawrence, a man desperate to get out from under his overbearing wife's thumb, and William H. Macy, a geek who hopes he can FINALLY do something that will make him cool, and you've got a great group of main characters.

Macy's performance is probably the most surprisingly good of the bunch. He's downright hilarious in this movie as the 'rebel nerd.' And Ray Liotta is excellent as the villain, the antagonist who tries to refuse this group of "Wild Hogs" their right to ride on the grounds that they're not real bikers.

This is a very funny movie and is sure to keep you entertained. With a relatively unoriginal plot this may not have been a great film if not for the excellent cast, but these guys will have you cheering for the middle-aged suburbanite and longing for the open road yourself.

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Instead of listening to the critics who have savaged this film, check it out yourself and you may actually enjoy it. It's a story that almost anyone 40 or older who has ever dreamed of riding a motorcycle can relate to. The central characters are four middle aged guys, Doug (Tim Allen), a dentist who hardly knows the meaning of fun anymore, Bobby (Martin Lawrence), a henpecked plumber, Woody (John Travolta), a lawyer who, with his supermodel wife and lucrative career, seems to have it all but has secretly fallen on hard times and Dudley (William H. Macy), an extremely naive, geeky computer programmer. The four decide, once and for all, to live a little and to take a cross country road trip on their Harleys. Along the way, they have a series of misadventures that really get interesting when they run into the Del Fuegos gang who's leader Jack (Ray Liotta) takes an immediate disliking to this bunch of yuppies pretending to be real bikers. The guys later find themselves in a situation where they have to truly rely on each other as men and as friends and where they have to really be open and honest with themselves and each other.

The only real fault I found with Wild Hogs was the interaction with the gay cop which could have been completely left out. However I found the film as a whole to be fun to watch and made me want to get myself a Hog and take a cross country trip myself. This movie doesn't take itself seriously (It's a comedy for Chrissake!) so the critics shouldn't either.

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Hollywood needs to rediscover the lost art of movie comedy. "Wild Hogs" is "City Slickers on Harleys" minus the humor, inventiveness and overall good taste. The filmmakers take every conceivable wrong turn and waste a fine cast in the process. You may get a few chuckles from this inexplicable box-office smash, but you'll probably hate yourself in the morning.

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This is a cute movie, kind of a First Wives Club for men. A movie where aging professional guys go on a week long motorcycle riding trip to reclaim some of their youthful exuberance.

The movie is a funny parallel to real life, as the actors in this movie are also aging professionals looking to inject a little excitement back into their careers.

There are a number of humorous moments along the way, many of them involving the shy William Macy.

But John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, and Tim Allen turn in good performances as the other Hogs.

I also enjoyed the antagonist Del Fuego biker, played by Ray Liotta, and the charming cafe owner Marisa Tomei, who plays the potential love interest for Dudley (William Macy).

Watch this movie and take a break from the serious side of life. Let out your inner hog!

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Canaan: Complete Collection

Canaan is a fast-paced-thrill-ride animated by P.A. Works ( True Tears and Angel Beats ) that will take you and won't let you go until you get to its ending credits, there are many cases where action anime have a very convoluted plot that causes its viewers to lose interest in finishing it, but not in this one, instead you'll be asking for more.

The main character is Canaan a mercenary currently operating in Shanghai who has a strong relationship with Maria Osawa a survivor of the new virus circulating the black market. The characters are superbly well written, even the villains have a special charm that makes them likable, the anime has a little for everyone, from mobsters to sexy hitwomen along with fan service, black humor and very clever innuendo scenes.

Overall is really hard to see a good anime now these days, because now everything seems to be MOE-MOE, I'm not saying that MOE is bad BUT WE need a break from it and CANAAN is a perfect option, also is great to hear Hilary Haag, Andy McAvin, Jessica Boone, Shelley Calene-Black and Rob Mungle are back in the industry and hope to hear more from them.

CONS

1Plot holes.

PROS

1Fast paced action/adventure thriller.

2Well written characters.

3Character design.

4Vivid colors with fluent animation and movie type quality.

5English and Japanese versions are topnotch.

6Fan service.

7A bittersweet ending to all the characters ( my personal favorite was Cummings )

Sentai Filmworks acquired a perfect action anime gem that if you like Gungrave, Ergo Proxy or Gunslinger Girl then by all means buy it.

The other reviews have covered what the story is about...this review is of the actual Blu-Ray release.

Unlike what is printed on the back of the case it is not 1080P, it is 1080i. Even so the visuals are excellent if not really sharp. Vibrant colors with no color banding I could detect. Nice fluid motion as well with lines well defined. The DTS-HD Master Audio track is Excellent as well (I watched in Japanese w/ English subtitles). Tried the English track and it's an excellent track as well, just couldn't take Yun Yun's dub voice. Either one has great use of surround sound and the audio is clear enough to hear the "t"s stressed in the opening.

There are 4 extras on disc 2: Minorikawa's Report, Clean Opening, Clean Closing, and Credits. Minorikawa's Report basicially just uses video clips from the show to explain what you already know if you have seen the show...AMV's on YouTube are better done than this. The Clean Opening and Closing are nice visually, but the audio is not in HD and has over a 10dB level drop over the DTS-HD Master Audio track along with less definition. The credited episode DTS-HD Master Audio opening is MUCH better in the audio department.

So to sum it up the visuals and audio is excellent in the Episodes. The Extras are good visually, but not so good on the audio end. Definitely would recommend getting the Blu-Ray over the DVD, not only because of the quality, but the Blu-Ray version costs less as well. The price I see now is a little high compared to my pre-ordered price though...$10 higher to be exact.

If you are a fan of this type of anime (action/drama/suspension) and don't mind that it's really a Mature title ( I don't see how Canaan retains a TV14 rating...), Canaan is an excellent Blu-Ray release to get.

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Bought this anime simply cause I wanted something to watch and didn't want to rent from Netflix. Read a review from Otaku USA and although the review wasn't all that great I simply liked the character design too much to care and because of the action. Turned out to be a pretty good buy as far as I'm concerned. Storyline is better than I thought and the action is where it's at. Overall, pretty interesting story and very good animation. If you like action and animation and not so much with the story this will probably do it for you.

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Maria was infected by the UA virus. Her father was able to create a vaccine and save her. Most are not so lucky. Those infected either die or develop synethesia; a condition that gives a person superhuman abilities. Canaan is one such girl. When Maria and her partner are researching a story in Shanghai for the paper they work for, they encounter Canaan. The 3 are drawn together into a plot that could cost many lives. Along with their cheerful and goofy friend Yun Yun, the team tries to stop the sinister "Snake" organization from spreading the UA virus. The past comes back to haunt them, and the future doesn't look bright; but Canaan shines brightly.

This anime has a killer opening and a killer ending. The middle part is up and down. Sometimes it drags, but then it will ick back up again. The plot is very well written. There are also lots of great characters on both sides. Cannan is kind of like a mix between Noir, Burst Angel, and The Third; if you can sort of picture that. It's really good. Tons of action, drama, and comedy. It's not for the young ones though. There is harsh language and almost a bit of nudity. To be honest with you, this was a 3 or 4 star series for me until the last episode or 2. It has a killer ending. I think that most mature anime fans will find this series pretty entertaining.

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This series is actually a sequel (spinoff really) to the "428: F'sa Sareta Shibuya de" visual novel for Wii. The viewer follows friends Canaan and Maria for most of the series. The series is reminiscent of a Resident Evil style plot where some entity has purposefully infected people with a rare virus. The virus is almost always lethal, but there are those rare people who actually survive the virus but have their bodies affected in strange ways. Canaan is one of the people. Maria is her photographer friend. Though it is unnecessary to know what happens in the previous visual novel, it does help to explain some of the early plot holes and explain how Maria and Canaan know each other. Some of this is revealed in flashbacks through the anime series.

The series is short, only 13 episodes, but most of the episodes have a lot going on. The animation is very high quality and the backgrounds are lusciously beautiful. The Japanese voice acting is stellar. I watched both versions, and I have to say that Yum Yum and Maria in particular are nearly perfectly matched with their Japanese voice actors.

My negative points are few, but they are important. First, due to the short length of the series, there are quite a few plot holes and plot threads left unfinished. But probably the most annoying is a little 'glitch' in episode 8. The subtitles actually hit one off. Basically when someone is speaking, the subtitle for the next persons' audio is shown. So you see Canaan ask one of the girls if she is okay "Daijoubu ka?" but the subtitle says "Honored Alphard". Then we see the next scene Cumming's says "Alphard sama" with the subtitle for the next dialogue... awkward! But this is only in episode 8. Kind of makes you wonder if Sentai actually watched the finished Japanese audio and English subtitle version for error proofing.

The only other negative point is the finale kind of seems rushed and then we see one particular character having a very drawn out and melodramatic breakdown. I understand it is in keeping with her character, but I might not be the only person who was thinking "Hurry up and die already! I'm sick of hearing you! Jeez!" But I can totally forgive these small annoyances.

I actually checked this out from my local library, so I am quite pleased with it overall; but had I paid $42 I would probably be a bit miffed. Though it is a good series, it is short, and it's not too necessary to own. If you can stream this online or rent from Netflix or your local library (if you're lucky enough to have an anime friendly library nearby), then I would recommend that course of action before spending $42 to buy it.

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Invincible (2006)

Vince Popale is an out-of-work substitute teacher, and part-time bartender who arrives home to find his wife has left him taking everything. The only thing left behind is a note reminding him that he is a failure, a man who will never amount to anything.

The Philadelphia Eagles are as successful as this 30 year old, Italian-American from South Philadelphia whose sports career is nothing more than "tough touch" football with the boys in a vacant lot, and season tickets to watch the hometown team get their feathers plucked Sunday after Sunday. But his luck is about to change. The new head coach calls for try-outs for any fan that wants to make the team. Only one of the hundreds is selected. That one is Vince Popale.

His next challenge is overcoming the physical and verbal abuse of teammates who see him only as a publicity stunt. His support are a few friends, a father, and new girlfriend (who is a NY Giant fan). He has nothing but his heart, and an all-out desire to make the team.

As a die-hard Giant fan, I found it hard not to cheer for the Eagles in this movie, because it wasn't about them. It was about a man's personal triumph, and his desire to overcome everything that so many said he could never accomplish. This is the kind of story anyone would love.

Mark Wahlenberg turns in a fine performance of Popale. The cast is excellent. The story is uncomplicated, and it resembles the tale of Rocky Balboa, which was released as Popale's real-life star was on the rise. It shows how a team that resented him deeply came to admire and respect their special teams captain.

In addition to a special feature of making the movie with the real deal (VP), the viewer can see the movie in three versions with narrations in two of them.

Don't miss. This is a super bowl of football movies.

It's 1976, and the men in Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg)'s neighborhood are having a tough time. They're either laid off like him or on strike. They do still have each other, though. They love their backlot football games, meeting at the tavern, and cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles, who have also had a lot of bad luck. A new coach (Greg Kinnear) comes to the Eagles and holds an open try-out. Anyone can come down and try for a place on the team. His pals urge 30-year old Vince to go, and the rest, as they say, is history.

You don't have to be a big football fan to enjoy this movie. Yes, there is plenty of hard-hitting action, but it's also about trying your best, sticking together, and having a good heart. The cast is excellent and the script really held my interest. We get to know and care about Vince and his friends, and their gritty neighborhood seemed real. A very muddy football game filmed in slow-motion is an especially good scene. Not only is this a good story, it's a true story, with a winning combination of action and emotion.

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A few days ago, I heard the real life Vince Papale being interviewed on a sports radio talk show (710AM) and he was personable and sincere enough that I decided right then and there to go see his movie when it releases. In the interview, he spoke quite eloquently of the tough times he'd undergone, his time spent with the Eagles (3 years) and the abuse he took from his scoffing teammates, as well as his relationship with Coach Vermeil. Vince matter-of-factly stated that he was the fastest guy on the Eagles team of '76. He also mentioned Mark Wahlberg in glowing terms, of how he and Mark bonded, and how Mark spent quality time playing with Vince's kid. Like Papale, Mark grew up in a rough neighborhood, so Mark, in his portrayal of Vince, pretty much was acting from close to his roots.

It's 1976 in Philly: the spectre of the Vietnam War still hovers, the energy crisis still looms, blue collar Joes are getting laid off en masse, and everyone's hair is just horrible. And, oh yeah, the Eagles suck. Invincible is the true life story of underdog Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), who in 1976 lost his wife and found his school-teaching jobs dwindling, and was then toiling away as a 30-year old bartender. Meanwhile, to shake things up with the going-nowhere Philly football team, new head coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) decides to hold open try-outs. Being a passionate, hard core Philadelphia Eagles fanatic and having played as a wide receiver in a minor league football team, Vince jumps at this chance and impresses the head coach with his speed and his hard-contact hitting and, most of all, his heart. Vince somehow makes it on the Eagles roster as the oldest rookie ever (not counting kickers; but kickers don't count, anyway) without the benefit of a college football experience.

Invincible also parallels Vince Papale's struggles with Dick Vermeil's first baby steps as the coach of the Eagles. With the recent crappy history of the team, Vermeil immediately realized that something fresh was needed to lift up the spirits of the Philly fans, who absolutely expected nothing from the team that season. But, predominantly, this movie covers Papale's arduous trek starting from the against-all-odds open camp try out, thru the brutal training camp, to the regular season's opening game, where the Eagles get whacked by the powerhouse Dallas Cowboys, and, finally, to the Eagles' home opener versus the hated New York Giants, wherein Vince becomes instrumental in the Eagles winning Dick Vermeil his first game as the head coach.

This obviously is a star vehicle for Mark Wahlberg, and he brings to the table his compelling street-savvy, average guy grit and charm. He is genuine and heartfelt in this role. Gotta admit, it's been a while now since I thought of him as Marky Mark. He's proven to me, with 3 Kings, The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job, and 4 Brothers, that he's a steadily maturing actor who has some measure of talent and sensitivity. And his physicality comes in very handy in playing the rugged Papale.

Greg Kinnear, also another guy I'm starting to take serious as an actor (very good job in The Matador), capably captures Head Coach Vermeil's touchy-feely personality. Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man 1 & 2, Seabiscuit) is nicely enthusiastic and spirited, very beautiful, and is a natural as Vince's love interest Janet. I had a blast with the sequence showing Janet clad in New York Giants wardrobe (she's a big Giants fanatic) entering the Eagles' home stadium amidst clamorous boos. Janet, who is not only sexy but is quite knowledgeable about football, is a guy's dream girl.

Invincible makes a point of never letting you forget about Vince's ordinariness and his fish out of water situation by throwing him in several scenes with his regular beer swilling buds as the film progresses. These mugs are rooting for him, yeah, but, at the same time, they want to make sure that he doesn't forget about them should he reach the big time. Meanwhile, Vince's dad is a blend of safe pessimism and hidden hope ("A man can only take so much failure"), leaving his buddy Tommy (Kirk Acevedo), his kindly bar boss Max (Michael Rispoli), and the lovely Janet to be the really steadying rocks in his life.

Ericson Core, first time director here and former cinematographer, does a great job catching the inner city "feel" of blue collar Philly with camera shots of the city's gritty, grimy streets, alleys, and dives. I bought into the realism of the movie's 1970's setting fairly easily. To watch Vince Papale jog thru the streets of Philly is to instantly think of another sports movie set in the same time, in the same city. Think boxing. The football scenes are fairly intense, with plenty of hard contact, with flesh getting pounded and bones being crunched. Just maybe there's too much slo-mo action.

In that interview, Vince Papale pretty much admitted that this movie didn't totally stay true to the facts, that some scenes were prettied up for greater audience consumption. What mattered, he said, was that Invincible did stay true to the spirit of his journey. I'm a sucker for underdog stories (coincidentally, Vince's nickname on the Eagles was Rocky), and knowing that Invincible is based on a true underdog story just whetted my appetite even more. Anyway, I just saw this film and liked it quite a bit. Still, I expect some criticisms to make the rounds centering on the film's too conventional plot and script, that maybe they're too trite and cliched. Me, I don't care. I love football, this is a football movie, and it's acted out with unaffected sincerity and great energy by the leads. Football season's just around the corner, but I figure I just got my fix in earlier.

Read Best Reviews of Invincible (2006) Here

If you've seen Rocky then you know the basic story here but the brilliance with Invincible is that it's all true. Ironically, when the real life Vince Papale was just going through his transformation in the gritty streets of Philadelphia, Rocky had just come out and some of his teammates and opponents would tease him by calling him "Rocky".

The brilliance of getting this on DVD is that you can hear the commentary track with the real Vince Papale giving his insight into what was happening throughout this time. The strikes were pulling the heart out of the locals. Vince's wife walked out on him. The Eagles kept losing. The people of Philly struggled on with a mixture of gut determination and faith.

Yes, it's a story of Vince 30 years old, out of work, out of a relationship, making ends meet by tending bar, getting his one shot at a dream. But it's also the story of the whole area he lives in, how they are being beaten down and they still hang in there. Vince's neighbor invites him in and feeds him pasta. His dad and gang root for him every chance they can. Little kids make up jerseys with Vince's numbers on them.

It's funny how, for a sports movie, it actually is much more about the characters. My boyfriend loves football, but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about the sport. We both really enjoyed watching this together. The soundtrack is gorgeous. The characters are gritty and real. They're not perfect they're human with character and heart. As much as some Disney movies can feel very sappy, this one is encouraging without going overboard. These are real heartbreaks that happened real obstacles that were overcome.

It's fascinating looking back to what football was like in the 70s. Vince explains that the team rooms really were that tiny that the streets in Philly are narrow, the homes restrictive. The emotions and experiences were real. Mark Whalberg does most of his own football work here and takes some massive hits. The movie ends with clips of the real Papale and his teammates, turning their team from a losing one to a group that reached the Superbowl.

Highly recommended.

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Movies in high definition are the future. This one was brilliantly made anyways (without the high-definition) and you add in the HD with Blu-Ray and the extra features (documentary on the real Vince Papale) and it just enhances the experience. I saw this at the movies and had to own it. It's inspirational and teaches that you are never too old to achieve your dreams. Definite buy on Blu-Ray or regular DVD.

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Who Dares Wins

From the deserts of Africa to Iraq, the Special Air Service Regiment of the Brish Army is renowned for their derring-do and never say die attitude. This movie is a dramatization and tribute to the courageous men of the SAS and was probably motivated by the public interest after the real life Iranian Embassy seige in London. Lewis Collins who plays Capt Peter Skellern SAS goes undercover for MI5 the Security Service to infiltrate a violent anti-war "ban the bomb" group planning a big terrorist operation. He becomes intimate with the group's highly sexed but really ugly looking leader. In the final climatic scene, you go into the skin of an SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare black clad trooper as he takes out the terrorists in the US Ambassador's residence. The action sequences are authentic especially as the technical advisors were serving members of the ultra secretive SAS. The speed of the action sequences are breathtaking especially the "double taps" or 2 shots to the brain technique used by the SAS CRW troopers. Note too the quick entry techniques used like the shooting out of the door hinges by 12 gauge combat shotguns. The techno music is very excitiing and inspiring too. The action movie buff will definitely enjoy this movie. When I first saw this movie in 1982 in England, the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament supporters actually protested outside the cinema! Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling Gourmet.

It is scandalous that Amazon is selling this product for $51 (as of May 20, 2010) when the item is available from Amazon UK for $21 (thats including postage to the US)I am guessing Amazon is counting on buyers being too lazy to click onto the United Kingdom link at the bottom of the page when looking for this item.

This movie, titled "The Final Option" here in the United States, is inspired by the SAS rescue of hostages at the Iranian Embassy in London when the British elite paratroopers stormed the building before the world's television camera's in the early 1980s. It is said that producer Euan Lloyd (who also produced classics such as "The Wild Geese" and "The Sea Wolves") registered every title he could think of after the incident, determined that the event would serve as a dramatic movie.

In the UK the movie goes under the title "Who Dares Wins" (which is the motto of the SAS). The action is switched from the Iranian Embassy to the U.S. ambassadors residence (evidently to make it more marketable to a U.S. audience) and the terrorists become nuclear disarmament militants.

In his first major leading role was Lewis Collins who was most familiar to British audiences for his role in the television series "The Professionals" and was among the public's favorite choices to take on the role of James Bond. Here he plays an SAS officer who is assigned to infilitrate the militants group and foil whatever mission they have planned.

The movie is a particular favorite of mine and on this imported British Blu-ray whereas the main feature plays on North American blu-ray players, the special features do not. The commentary however is playable on American Blu-ray players since it is an audio track and is quite engaging and interesting with the director phoning in his comments from New Zealand and producer Euan Lloyd in London.

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Now 25 years since it was filmed in England and Wales, this movie is an as yet "undiscovered" classic. The supporting cast of UK and US actors are instantly recognizable. It includes Richard Widmark, Robert Webber, Maurice Roeves, Patrick Allen, Edward Woodward and Tony Doyle, the latter currently famous for his role in Ballykissangel. While the beautiful Ingrid Pitt plays a very convincing "evil" terrorist who we, the audience, can love to hate.

Other reviewers on this page have been rather unkind to leading lady, Judy Davis, describing her as "ugly". If you click on her credit link at the top of the Amazon page you can see how many movies she's made and how attractive she is, both before and after 1982. Perhaps it is the early 1980s "big" hairstyle and makeup that are not found attractive today. Also, in her role here as a baddy, she sneers her way through the whole movie to impress her leading man, while in doing so repelling us, the audience. The leading man in this movie is played by Lewis Collins, who at that time still enjoyed the notoriety garnered from the very successful "The Professionals" action series.

What drives this movie is the superbly photographed action sequences, that are earthy, realistic and devoid of the modern "Hollywood" treatment where film shots are overly choreographed. The musical score is upbeat and drives most of the action, though the incidental music for a couple of family scenes is a little too syrupy. The tension builds slowly with occasional outbreaks of violence that we see are secretly financed by an organized international group. We see neo-Nazi "skinheads" beat up innocent bystanders and a good old British bobby (police officer) being kicked in the face. Later we are endeared to another unarmed bobby who, despite being repeatedly beaten by terrorists, continues to give words of encouragement to a hostage with a small baby. Thus by the time we approach the climactic events at the end of the movie, we are in no doubt who the good guys and the bad guys are. It is because of the time taken to build this tension that when we finally approach the climax, the urgency feels tangible: you really are sitting on the edge of your seat. I regard the scene where Rosalind Lloyd fights with Ingrid Pitt's character to save the life of her 10 month old baby as one of the most nail-biting sequences ever put onto film.

The first hour of the movie may seem somewhat slow to an US audience as the characterizations are established. Also the anti-Americanism portrayed both in opinions expressed and in on-stage "entertainment" may seem extreme, yet at that time, parts of European society were expressing these kinds of sentiments, and so these scenes should be viewed as authentic.

By today's movie standards, the SAS tactics used look somewhat passé, until you remember that this is the movie in which these tactics were first seen, and that this is the movie that many other have followed.

Numerous people involved in the making of this movie are still alive, including Phil Meheux, cinematographer, Ian Sharp, director, Chris Chrisafis, executive producer, and many of the cast. I personally would love to see the 35mm print remastered to a new DVD, with commentary and extras added. What better time than the 25th anniversary of its theatre release?

Read Best Reviews of Who Dares Wins Here

Both discs have the same content 1 has been remastered and the other is the Blue Ray edition.

Its worth watching the film with the commentary on.The films producer actually admits now some 28 years later that the SAS scenes were the SAS and not actors/stunt men.And that Lewis Collins was actually in 21 SQDN.SAS which is the Territorial unit.

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This movie was my first exposure to the SAS and anti-terrorist techniques. While fiction, it is based on the Iranian Embassy siege of the early 80's. It features a decent story, great actors, and cool spy stuff. If your a McNab or Ryan fan you'll like this flick.

Dragon (2011)

*This is not a review of the content of the film*

I thought it would be prudent to post this disclaimer on Amazon as it directly effected my decision to NOT buy this version of this movie.

THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL VERSION, but rather one that has been edited and shortened by the American Studio handling the domestic release.

Also, changes have been made to some of the music as well.

Now, I'm sure some people don't care about this sort of thing, and you who don't will get an acceptable movie if you decide to buy this. Personally I am a bit of a purist and get offended when some Suits who had nothing to do with making a movie suddenly start cutting bits out and generally messing it about.

If you've got the scratch to spend, you can get the undiluted Chinese release here: Wu Xia Blu-Ray (Region A) (English Subtitled) Donnie Yen

That is all, and may you get much enjoyment out of this film in whatever form you acquire it.

*Unhelpful side note for the curious*:

I am also annoyed by the rebranding of this film as "Dragon." While Wu Xia does technically mean dragon, that is not the context of the title. "Wu Xia" is also the term for the sub-genre of story telling that this film is an example of. Hence, renaming it "dragon" is like renaming a Film Noir titled "Noir" to "Black" for a foreign release, which doesn't make any sense and is stupid. :p

Imagine my shock as I watched this DVD and found out that I was not going to get the normal run-of-the-mill martial art movie. This story actually has layers and depth. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of action, but it interspersed with great acting and a solid, realistic storyline. I even found a few plot twists that were totally unexpected. A definite must see.

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My wife and I saw this on Vuudo last night. We loved this movie!. It's a great Kung Fu movie, but it also has a great story to it also. I'm going to add this to my collection, so I will be buying this as soon as its out..

Read Best Reviews of Dragon (2011) Here

love this movie. amazing storyline. would recommend to everyone.

wish it was in English so I didn't have to read the sub titles but other than that I love it.

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I am a huge fan of Chinese Films , if you expected the usual martial arts film you will be surprised as this turns out to be a csi investigation. Donnie Yen gives a terrific performance unlike the last couple of films where he seemed to be acting by numbers. The detective also gives a terrific performance with soul. Lookout for Jimmie Wang Yu's performance I hardly recognised him . Highly recommended

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Goodfellas - Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta (Region 1 US - 2012) (1990)

There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said about "Goodfellas"... it's one of the best movies ever. To hell with the AFI, this is arguably one of the top 10 American movies ever made! Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco: five top-notch talents operating on all 8 cylinders in this story about three decades of life in the mob.

Now, you'd think that Warner Brothers would give this movie the most complete Warner DVD release that's ever existed. A fervent popular following, a high level of anticipation for a special edition, and the current booming state of the DVD industry should've made this a no-brainer slam dunk for Warner's marketing and home video departments. And so, after years of having to flip over the old disc, after years of almost crushing that flimsy snap case, after years of listening to that 5.1 surround that sounded suspiciously like 2-channel, should you get this new version?? The answer is a resounding..."maybe".

Arguably the biggest plus to this new edition of "Goodfellas" is the fact that the whole movie is contained on a single side of a dual-layered disc. The "all-new digital transfer", enhanced for 16:9, is only a marginal improvement over the original release (which was also listed as being "enhanced for widescreen TVs" on the package; it wasn't). Strangely enough, in the scene where Jimmy (De Niro) and Paulie (Paul Sorvino) go to convince Henry to go home to Karen, there is a very noticeable screen-split line on the film that sections De Niro's face in half. This isn't the transfer's problem, per se; it looks more like something off the film print. The strange thing is I don't remember this streak being present on the old version. Maybe it's only a minor peeve, but still, this is the kind of thing you'd expect a studio to clean up for a special edition.

The English audio is the same old Dolby-Surround-masquerading-as-5.1 mix used in the old version. The package incorrectly lists Spanish as the alternate language; it's still French. Nothing more to say about that.

The disc menus are static, and they all have this generic-sounding jazz score playing over them. Remember all the jazz in "Goodfellas"? Yeah, me neither.

Of course, the real reason most people are running out to get this new set is to see the special features. This DVD includes 2 commentaries: one with various cast & crew members, the other with Henry Hill & ex-FBI agent Ed McDonald (who plays himself at the end of the movie). Of the 2 commentaries, the track with real-life players Hill and McDonald is infinitely more interesting, even though Hill mumbles more than Keith Richards having an acid flashback.

When I bought this set, I was looking forward to some feature-length Scorsese, Pesci, Liotta &/or Bracco commentary (I didn't dare to hope for Robert De Niro, I mean, be serious), with some funny stories or moviemaking info. Instead, what you get is a few new comments cobbled together with 10-15 year old sound bites from De Niro and Joe Pesci. Basically, the first 90 minutes of commentary is a total strokefest ("oh-this-guy-was-so-great", "oh-she-did-a-really-good-job") with only Scorsese, author Nick Pileggi, Liotta, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus saving it. It picks up towards the end, though, when Lorraine Bracco (who shoots down the "screen-specific commentary" illusion when she talks about having watched the movie on the morning she's being interviewed) and editor Thelma Schoonmaker drop some funny thoughts.

As for the rest of the extras? There's really no need to have a second disc to contain them; the total running time of all the "documentaries", as Warner calls them ("featurettes", I call 'em), along with the theatrical trailer is less than an hour. Plenty of room for these on the first disc, but then I guess Warner felt they needed another selling point with the whole 2-disc thing. To summarize the 1/2-hour making-of documentary: "Martin Scorsese is a great director." Remember those 6 words and everything else is cream cheese.

The second major documentary, at around 13 minutes long, has interviews with some younger writer-directors who've found themselves influenced by "Goodfellas". Only 5 words to remember this time: "'Goodfellas' is a brilliant movie."

The other two featurettes are about 10 minutes altogether. One is a storyboard-to-screen comparison, the other is a little throwaway piece with some cast & crew anecdotes. 4 words will do this one just fine: "Warner Brothers is lazy."

It's really a shame that Warner Brothers couldn't wait just a tad longer and include some truly special features for one of the best movies their studio has ever produced. With the stellar jobs they've done on their other 2-disc reissues, like "Enter the Dragon", "The Right Stuff", "Singin' in the Rain" --jeez, even "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" has better features than this!!-I expected Warner Bros. to really pull out all the stops for this new edition of "Goodfellas", but it's a big letdown. Still, it is an improvement (no matter how minor) over the previous release, and as it is probably the "best" version we're ever gonna get on DVD, I would have to recommend picking it up.

However, if you already own the movie, keep three things in mind. Ask yourself 1.) if you really mind flipping the old disc over, 2.) if you've got a normal full-screen TV, do you really need a new anamorphic transfer?, and 3.) do you really need to see the special features if they're not exactly top quality? If your answer to any of these things is "no", then I'd think long and hard about shelling out another $20.

**UPDATE 12/31/2010** Having recently gotten a PS3, I've been going nuts updating as many of my DVDs as possible to Blu-Ray, but like most people who've made the switch, I've come to learn that it's not always worth it in every case. I just got the new 20th Anniversary Edition Goodfellas BluRay and I can confirm that it has the same exact lame special features we were issued on the so-called "special" edition DVD six years ago (with two "new" extras; more on that in a minute).

The image upgrade is noticeable to me, but not impressive enough (that line is STILL running down De Niro's face) for me to recommend laying out yet another 20-odd dollars for the same product. C'mon, Warners, all this time and you still haven't learned your lesson? And being that this is Blu-Ray, maybe a TrueHD audio track would be in order? Nope, we get the same old 5.1. Thanks a pantload.

So what's new on this 20th Anniversary release? Well, I'll admit it does have a snazzy hardbound book-shaped case, even if it doesn't have much in common with the film, design-wise. There's also a pretty nice booklet about 30 pages long with stills from the movie. There are also two additional features that weren't present on the original DVD: a documentary on the history of the '30s and '40s gangster movies and a selection of mob-themed Looney Tunes shorts. The problem is, this is recycled content; the cartoons can be found in the Looney Tunes sets, while the documentary is a leftover from a Warner Brothers gangster movie box set released a few years ago. They're both fun, both interesting, but have only the most tenuous connections with Goodfellas. Couldn't squeeze one substantial new extra out of this new release, could they? Once again, all people wanted was a little decent treatment given to one of the best movies ever produced by a major studio. Once again, Warner Brothers has proven they just don't get it. Fair enough, but this is the last copy of Goodfellas I buy. I don't care if they come out with the deluxe 25th Anniversary 3D Super-BluRay Scratch 'n Sniff Edition, I'm not biting.

On a side note, I just want to say thanks to everybody for all the helpful votes and whatnot, glad you found this review useful over time. Take care!

Goodfellas has long been one of my favorite movies. I've watched it many times since I saw it in the theater. I've seen it on tape, on laserdisc, on the original "flipper" DVD and the remastered anamorphic DVD, and now, Blu-Ray Disc.

I'm happy to report that the Blu-Ray is a significant improvement over the remastered DVD. The picture is brighter, the colors are more vivid, and many scenes have much more detail and clarity. Of course, the overall picture is much sharper.

Goodfellas is not the kind of movie that is a showcase for high-resolution video, however. It has a lot of dark indoor scenes; very little takes place outdoors (something I never noticed before). I noticed some graininess, which has a lot to do with how Scorcese shot the picture. It's just more noticeable in the higher resolution.

There are some minor problems with the audio in one scene. The dialogue drops in volume and then jumps back up in the following scene. Other than that, the audio is fine, although I would have liked a more aggressive surround mix, at least in the musical selections. However, there's not much use of the surrounds here.

Also, at one point there's a vertical line halfway across the screen. Why this wasn't cleaned up is mystery to me; it lasts for about fifteen seconds. Admittedly this is a very minor problem, but with expensive new technology flaws of this kind stand out more than they would on tape or standard DVD.

If you're a fan of the movie and are considering upgrading to the Blu-Ray, I'd highly recommend it. It's not an eye-popping effects movie to begin with, so this disc isn't the first one to reach for if you want to show off your system. But it's probably the best way to watch the movie.

Buy Goodfellas - Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta (Region 1 US - 2012) (1990) Now

After Godfather I and II, Goodfellas has to be the best "mob" movie out there. But I was disappointed in the DVD for one BIG reason. I had to flip the damn thing over halfway through the movie! I stayed away from laserdisc for this very reason. C'Mon Warner Brothers! There is no reaon that this couldn't have been created as a dual-layer DVD. I'd even spend a couple extra bucks for it.

Read Best Reviews of Goodfellas - Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta (Region 1 US - 2012) (1990) Here

GoodFellas is on top of my "best films of all time" list. I was one of the people who had bought the previous DVD edition, the infamous "two-sided, no features" release that had been one of the first generation of DVD releases, before the medium evolved into what it is today. I had been counting the days until they would re-release this film, so I was first in line to get this new edition.

Unfortunately, though this edition is much better than the previous one, it very much pales alongside most modern DVD packages.

The package aroused many suspicions in me that this was a rush job. Among my dissatisfactions:

There's no booklet, leaflet, film histories, or printed material of any kind which generally supplements a two-disc release like this;

The film is long, but still under the three-hour mark, and the second disc has three short (eight to 20 minutes), unremarkable documentaries plus a storyboard-film comparison. Wouldn't all this material have fit on a single disc? Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story had three times the media and was only a single disc. If they didn't have enough material, why did they put up the illusion that there are two discs' worth?

There are only two commentaries, and one of them isn't even complete. The "Cop and Crook" commentary is interesting, applying the great idea of bringing back Henry Hill (on whose life this film and its source book Wiseguy were based) and the prosecutor who had sponsored his Witness Protection Program, Edward McDonald. It's not a very illuminating commentary, but it's still good to see what Hill is like today. However, the "Cast and Crew" commentary is suspect. Not only does it not cover the entire film, I actually suspect it was not recorded as a commentary, but edited from fragmentary interviews. So rarely do the cast and director on this track comment on the specific scenes, the way a commentary should, that I don't think they were watching the film as they were speaking; I think the production company simply mixed the sound louder and created the illusion that this was a commentary track. I don't know for sure if this is the case, but if it is, I consider it very dishonest marketing. Don't call it a commentary unless it is one!

I found absolutely no new insights into Martin Scorsese or the film from the additional materials. The "making of" documentary is the usual "heap praise upon the director" baloney. Come on, do we actually *need* you to tell us that Scorsese is great? How about giving some anecdotes and insight into the film instead?

All of the above adds up to a very underwhelming DVD release of a film that's possibly the greatest American film of the last 20 years. However, there is still one incentive to own it -the entire film is contained, without interruptions, on one disc. So unlike with the old DVD release, you can actually watch the whole film now without having to turn the disc over. So this is still the best available version of the film out there. However, I remain displeased. After years of waiting, and being disappointed, why does this edition fail to satisfy?

I can only hope that the impossible would happen -that Warner Bros. would let The Criterion Collection take a stab at this film, and do it justice. It will never happen, but the very idea does whet the appetite.

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A contemporary classic stylishly directed by Martin Scorsese, it's among his finest two plus hours (and that's really saying something coming from the man who brought us Taxi Driver & Raging Bull!). He once again teams with Robert DeNiro to bring this seering tale of New York City's organized crime syndicate in the late 70's to life. The supporting cast includes Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco and Joe Pesci (in the scene-stealing performance that won him the Oscar). Based on the novel Wiseguy by Nicolas Pillegi (who co-wrote the script) Goodfellas follows the life of Henry Hill, a connected guy who lives out his criminal fantasy of being a member of the mob and eventually decends into drugs, which leads to his ultimate demise. The use of the oldies pop/rock soundtrack has often been immitated but never duplicated (though Pulp Fiction would be a comperable comparison). Beware: fans of The Godfather may be distraught in seeing their ideallic vision of mob life torn down brick by brick. Let there be no mistake, this mob movie stands unrivaled (though it's getting a push from the HBO series The Sopranos). I urge fans of this movie to check out The King of Comedy (another DeNiro/Scorsese masterpiece).

Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

This review refers to the Paramount ("Widescreen Collection") DVD of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"...

For over 40 years this western has stood the test of time. It's one that I could watch anytime,a great story,with a tremendous cast and a legendary director. I was thrilled to see it on DVD and even more so when I saw how good it looked.

Directed by John Ford, it stars, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Vera Miles.Stewart plays "Ransom Stoddard", an Eastern type bookish lawyer, who arrives in "Shinbone" naive to the code of the west. After witnessing the terroristic ways of one bad hombre, Liberty Valance(Lee Marvin),and his group of thugs, Ransom plans to rid the town of this menace, but is gonna do it legal like. At the same time, he is in competition for the fairest lady in town, with another good but tough guy...John Wayne.

The story of Liberty Valance's demise is told by Stoddard after returning to town decades later.He is now an esteemed Senator, and has been a legend in his own time for freeing Shinbone from the hold Valance had on it. But what is the real story of what happened that fateful day? The story unfolds captivatingly.

A great DVD. This 1962 Black and White looks crisp and clear,it is presented in widescreen, and is enhanced with Dolby Digital 5.1 or may be viewed in the restored mono. Other than a theatrical trailer, you wont find any special features, although this is a film you can just kick back and enjoy for itself. There are English subtitles for hearing impaired.

As I said it has a tremendous cast and you can never go wrong with a John Ford Western. But the cast doesn't end with the major stars. Here are some other notables to look for. Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine, Lee Van Cleef, Ken Murray, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, Woody Strode, Denver Pyle and Strother Martin.....WOW!

Westerns are my favorite genre, I probably have more Westerns in my collection then anything else.This one is a more subdued storyline than most shoot em ups, but is one of my personal favorites. I consider it right up there with "Shane" and "High Noon". If you love Westerns, this is a great addition to your collection.

Happy Trails.....Laurie

also recommended:

The Searchers / Stagecoach

Great Hollywood Westerns: Man Without A Star

Great American Western V.10, The

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is without a doubt, one of John Wayne's best western films. If you don't own this film, I highly recommend it. It is fun watching over and over again as the script is solid and engaging, and the acting performances among the three principle stars is more than superb!

"Vallance" is Oscar winning Director John Ford's last best effort in western film making. He put together an all-star cast and the cast put out for Ford as well, with stunning performances from John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lee Marvin. Wayne's acting is Academy Award material. He brings a depth of character to the Tom Doniphon role that will have you remembering his performance long after the film ends. In one scene, a drunken and despondent Wayne returns to the home he has built for his future wife Hallie. In a rage, he lights a lantern and sets fire to the new structure, with the intention of burning it, and himself, to the ground. The scene is riveting, and the expressions and movements of Wayne are some of the greatest ever filmed.

Although John Wayne is the "star" of this film, the film in reality has three stars, Wayne, James Stewart, and Lee Marvin. Jimmy Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, an idealistic lawyer who comes to bring legal law to the west. Stoddard is introducted to the west by none other than the terorist outlaw Liberty Valance, who robs the stage Stoddard is on. When Stoddard tries to resist the robbery of an elderly fellow passenger, Valance, played by Lee Marvin savagely beats him with a whip, leaving him to die. Wayne's character, Tom Doniphon, happens upon Stoddard and brings him to town. This sets the stage for the rest of the movie, as Stoddard tries to bring Liberty Valance to justice.

Lee Marvin's "Valance" is yet another superb acting performance. Whenever Marvin is on screen, there is tension and conflict, as Marvin plays the out of control Valance to the hilt. Marvin's acting rivals and matches those of Wayne and Stewart, making this a film that you will want to watch over and over again, for the acting performances alone.

The film hosts a fine supporting cast. Vera Miles very adequately plays Hallie, a young girl who has to decide upon the man she will spend the rest of her life with Wayne or Stewart. Andy Devine provides comic relief as the bumbling overweight sheriff who avoids conflict any way he can.

Although a bit old in real life for the roles they play, both Stewart and Wayne excel in their parts to such an extent that the ages of the actors are forgotten. The plot is satisfying and in the end we finally learn who REALLY shot Liberty Valence, and what the death of Valance has on the lives of the characters.

In my list of the best westerns of all-time, "Liberty Valance" is certainly in the top 10. An added bonus is that this film can be viewed by the entire family; my boys especially have enjoyed the film. You will not regret buying this DVD.

Jim Konedog Koenig

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Critics of John Wayne have often said that he only ever played one kind of Western character: a crude, tough-as-nails, trigger-happy, and irrational man who mistreated women but got their love anyway. Well, this movie should silence those critics. Wayne plays a gunslinger all right, but the character here (Tom Doniphan) is a unique one, to be sure.

Also starring in this movie is James Stewart, who plays a young lawyer coming to bring 'law and order' to the West. He manages to get tangled up with a notorious villain, Liberty Vallance (Lee Marvin), and from there he and Doniphan's paths cross until SOMEBODY shoots Liberty.

This is a great film by a great Director (John Ford). It leaves you with something to think about, and will definitely not allow you to think of the Duke's character (Doniphan) as a flat, one-sided gunman. In fact, this is Ford's idea of a sort of Western tragedy, and it is a good one. For storyline and plot, there are few John Wayne movies that top the Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance.

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Undoubtedly, one of the finest westerns ever made...this exquisite example of film making is proof positive that not every western is a simplistic plot about "cowboys and indians".

John Ford's stylish film is a brilliant psychological story about very different personalities and their violent meeting in the town of Shinbone. James Stewart plays the young, idealistic lawyer Ransom Stoddard...heading west in the hope of bringing law and justice to an untamed land. Enter Lee Marvin as the cold blooded and ruthless outlaw, Liberty Valance, ruling Shinbone and the surrounding territories by his own laws. And finally, John Wayne as the strong, iron-willed and well meaning Tom Doniphon....the only man with the courage to stand up to Liberty Valance.

Ford's movie is additionally supported by several dynamic character actors...Andy Devine as the cowardly sheriff Link Appleyard, Edmond O'Brien is simply brilliant as habitually drunk news paper editor Dutton Peabody, Woody Strode as Doniphon's loyal ranch-hand Pompy, plus the villainous duo of Lee van Cleef & Strother Martin.

What makes this movie so outstanding is that it appeals on so many levels....as an adventure, as a love story, as a tragedy, and ultimately as a tale well told. It moves with such eloquence and style, and the viewer is carried through each layer of this complex story with precision and feeling.

This is easily one of my most watched and most enjoyed films, and a moving reminder of a talented film maker and some very fine actors excelling in their craft.

I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD release of this one !!

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My favorite Western. An endlessly fascinating and tragic look at the American West, the evolution of legends, the nature of courage, the nature of love plus John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart too. Not to mention a snarling Lee Marvin as the villian Libery Valance

When this movie came out, some critics complained that Wayne and Stewart were too old for their roles. Critics also complained that the film looked studio bound. Later critics made much of the cynical newspaper publisher at the end of the movie who says "This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Through the lens of 60's anti-heroism, these critics saw Ford's film as being about the debunking of all heroic American legends.

Director John Ford knew exactly what he was doing. He eschewed the grand expanses of Monument Valley for the cramped back lot. He chose Wayne and Stewart because they were icons of the brave action hero and the law abiding community leader. He made these choices because he was making a stylized dirge to a frontier west where the code of facing your rival directly with a Colt .45 had given way to the complications of lawyers and lawbooks.

After countless viewings of this movie, I am not so sure Ford was being all that cynical, either. At least not in the way the debunkers want to make him out to be.

To me, the heart of this movie is an ultimate act of tragic romantic heroism and not cold political cynicism. The critics who focus on lawyer Stewart's physical confrontation with the villian, Libery Valance, and Stewart's later rise to political fame shortchange the second major conflict in the film.

Can a cowardly act ever be courageous? For Liberty Valance also tells the story of a man of honor who loves a woman very, very much. And then, one day, she asks him to do that one thing that goes against his own moral code. He thought he was strong enough to live with it.

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The Great Escape (2013)

I received my Blu Ray copy of this classic film today, May 6, one day before the actual release day of May 7. Thank you, amazon!

I'd also mention that I pre-ordered this BD with Amazon's price guarantee. I noticed that the BD was put on sale yesterday morning at amazon for only $9.99, which was less than the $14.99 I had paid on pre-order. I assumed I would get the lower price, but when my BD shipped last night, it was at the higher price. I dashed off an e-mail to amazon's customer service last night, and by this morning, I had a response AND a credit of $6.71 toward my Visa card to give me the lower price of $9.99! Thank you AGAIN, amazon! Now, THAT'S customer service!

Props to amazon duly noted, on to the review:

I've now watched the BD of the film twice, and I find myself largely in agreement with the review that is up at Bluray.com. The soundtrack sounds very good, especially for a 50-year-old film. The music comes through powerfully, especially the bass end, which is smooth, not boomy. Dialogue is crisp and clear, which makes for a nice listening experience.

That's the good.

The bad unfortunately has to do with the picture quality. The opening credit shot is really excellent, and it got my hopes up that Fox had done a good job of cleaning up the film and sharpening the picture. Things continue in fine fettle as we reach the prison camp, with the opening scenes at the camp looking sharp. The initial scene of Hilts and Ives (The Mole) in the cooler looks good as well I had forgotten about their extended dialogue in this opening scene in the cooler (is this scene sometimes cut when shown on TV?).

As the film progresses, the picture quality varies, most often being not much better than that which was on the DVD. The worst scene picture-quality-wise has to be the exterior footage in the 4th of July scene, where the prisoners imbibe in some moonshine and the "Tom" tunnel is discovered by the German guard, Werner. The interior shots in this scene are much crisper than the exterior shots, no doubt because they were shot on the sound stage while the exteriors obviously were not. The exterior shots are almost blurry at some points, at least to the extent that a Blu Ray image can be blurry. Perhaps this is an accurate representation of what was shot by John Sturges, but I'm not convinced. I had really hoped for something a bit better.

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like DNR has been used in the BD mastering of this film. I say that because the faces just don't have the kind of detail and rawness that one sees in the best 4K and 6K restorations. The faces aren't as washed out and waxy as I've seen on some BDs, but the detail just isn't there.

The above noted, the picture throughout the movie is still steadier, crisper and clearer than it was in the VHS and DVD versions, at least the ones I've owned (I never owned the 2-DVD CE). Maybe this is the best we can hope for in this age of BDs being shoved out the door ASAP before the hardcopy industry collapses and online/streaming video takes over. I just expected higher and more consistent picture quality for this 50th-Anniversary, initial BD release of this very popular film.

And so, the questions arise: why wasn't a major restoration done on this film? Why was DNR employed when I thought we'd gotten beyond that? Will the Steelbook version due out in June be any better visually than this just-released Blu Ray? The answers to those three questions are, sadly, 1. major restorations are very expensive; 2. if you're not going to do a real restoration, DNR is a cheap substitute that won't bother most people, and; 3. the Steelbook version will probably include this same BD.

As far as the extras on this BD, they're the same extras that were on the DVD, all 8 of them. One wishes that Fox had put the extras on a separate DVD and used the entire 50GBs of the dual-layer BD to allow more information for the movie itself. But I guess they didn't have to do that as they used DNR in the mastering process and didn't really have extra data to eat up the storage space on the BD.

One final note about the menus: the BD boots up and immediately goes right into playing the film. I prefer that over the endless previews that are loaded onto many BDs and DVDs who is going to watch those previews once a BD is a few years old? The menus for the "extras" are all accessed while the film is starting to play, which feels sorta cheap. If one wants to back out of an extra, you're sent back to the film to access any other extras. It gives me more appreciation for the sophisticated menus one gets on, say, Disney product. But then, there aren't many Disney products around that get discounted to under $10.

I can muster only three stars for the BluRay of this classic movie: 4.5 stars for the big improvement in the soundtrack, mitigated by the visual issues noted above.

I watched some of the Blu Ray and compared it to the 2 disk DVD set. All I can say is wow. The colors looked great on the Blu Ray.

The buildings are wood color on the Blu Ray, on the 2 disk DVD, they almost looked yellow.

The sound, DTS-HD Master 5.1, much better than the 2 disk DVD set, which is Mono.

I have not looked at the special features, but it looks all of the special features from the 2 disk DVD set is on the Blu-Ray.

I hope this helps you out.

**Update**

On the Blu Ray, there were some scenes that were filmed with a filter, those were not as clear as the rest of the film. The Blu Ray was so much better than the DVD.

This film I have owned from VHS, DVD, to the 2 disk DVD and now the Blu-Ray.

When I posted my review, Amazon did not have very much informtion about the Blu-Ray.

I feel that this is a worthy upgrade.

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This was and still is an amazing classic film. The Blu-ray version of this though simply explodes off the screen and brings the film out even more than in previous versions that have been released in the past in different formats. The movie itself is full of action, suspense and drama and the acting is tremendous. I was always amazed at the array of great actors that were pulled together to make this film and what they did with the help of a great director, to develop a movie that has become a great within the cinema. One of the things that I found interesting was that McQueen played two characters in the movie and within one scene he two characters were chasing each other strange but true! If you have never seen this movie, you have to pick it up today, and what better time than to pick it up on Blu-ray, as the quality is superb and you will definitely not be disappointed in the overall movie itself!

*I received a copy for review all opinions are my own*

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The blu-ray of The Great Escape is not bad to my eyes. From what I have read, the film uses opticals in the fade outs that are generations removed from the original camera negative. Scenes were shot through diffusion filters, which make the picture--even when properly mastered for blu-ray--look soft. Colors are accurate. There is no DNR applied, there is grain intact. This is a far cry better than the previous DVD releases.

For $10-$15, you can't go wrong with a purchase.

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This 1963 film is an all-star classic headlined by the 'King of Cool' Steve McQueen with his trademark scene stealing. Garner, Bronson, Coburn, Attenborough et al all do a great job. Has the look and feel of the 'Magnificent Seven' since it has the same director, John Sturges, and some of the same actors. The 2:52 running time goes more like 20 minutes; never a dull moment.

The blu-ray quality was great and this is another example of an older film brought in at high quality. I was having a disagreement with some on here about how we were getting shorted on quality in some films like 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Bridge on the River Kwai' and told not to expect high quality in older films. This film along with other oldies such as 'Ben-Hur', Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, etc. disproves that older films don't do as well on blu-ray while clearly proving that some older films are sold without having gone through the technical tradecraft (and investment) necessary to bring them up to blu-ray standards. Sadly, I think it's about 50-50 and we can't get much of a warning on the stinkers.

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New Police Story (2004)

After the disappointing `Around the World in 80 Days,' Jackie Chan went back to his roots in Hong Kong film industry. What is amazing is that Jackie (who is over 50 years old) can still do the death-defying stunts, as is seen in this film. The fact that his best films are made in 1980s cannot be denied, but `New Police Story' delivers its goods with Jackie and some of the new faces from Hong Kong.

The story is given a new touch in `New Police Story.' This time Jackie plays a veteran Hong Kong police officer Wing, whose overconfidence leads to a botched raid. Feeling guilt deeply, Inspector Wing, now disgraced, is given to drink until a young `police detective' named Fung appears before him. With a help from Fung, Wing again begins to hunt the culprits responsible for the deaths of his men.

[NEW BREED OF VILLAINS] As in his `The Myth,' Jackie's answer to the recent boom of wuxia (Chinese period martial arts films), in `New Police Story' Jackie Chan clearly intends to do something different. The baddies of the new film are a bunch of masked young gangsters, who can rob and kill as if it is a video game. As a fan of Jackie's actions, I can swear that this is very unusual choice. For in many cases the villains of his films may have been assassins or gangsters, but they never acted like spoiled kids. It is certain that deaths are sometimes depicted, but not in this violent way. Violent, in this case I mean, for Jackie's film. The decision of director Benny Chan (`Who Am I?') would divide the viewers' opinions, but it is certain that he and Jackie are trying to seek a new direction.

[ACTIONS] But you want to know the actions. Good news is that Jackie is still alert and agile, and can move like when he was in his first `Rush Hour.' Considering the fact that he is now over fifty, this is just incredible. There are two outstanding scenes here; one is Jackie climbing down the vertical wall of a tall building in a very unique (and dangerous) way, followed by Jackie hanging on the roof of a runaway bus in the street of Hong Kong. The other is in a Lego showroom, where he shows a bone-crunching fighting against one of the baddie.

[ACTING] This may not interest you, but Jackie does another new thing, and that is acting. Well, of course he must have been doing that for long, I know, but what I mean is he takes more time to reveal the complex nature of the character he plays, to show his ability as actor. There is even a love interest for his character.

[SUPPORTS] Some of Jackie film fans seem not to remember the names of the supports, or you just don't care. For `New Police Story' Jackie assembled great cast. Nicholas Tse as mysterious Fung is a standout among them, and so is Daniel Wu as the leader of the gangs. Among the fighting scenes, Andy On shines who was wasted in deplorable `Black Mask 2.' As to the female players, after the 8 years' retirement Charlie Yeung comes back as love of Jackie's inspector, giving the rather generic story a human touch, and very busy (and very cute) Charlene Choine from the popular duo Twins also appears.

`New Police Story' may not be the right place if you are going to see Jackie Chan films for the first time. It is overlong, sometime unnecessarily serious and violent, and Jackie's stunts, thrilling as they are, are not his best. Having said that, I must say it is a welcome addition to the works of one and only Jackie Chan, far better than any recent English-speaking films of his.

Longtime fans of Jackie Chan -that is, those of us who were fans pre-Rush Hour -know that his craziest stunts have always been reserved for his Hong Kong productions, no doubt due to the conservative nature of American films' insurance companies.

However, in recent years, Jackie has been trying to lay the groundwork for his post-action career by taking on roles with minimal action so that he can display his acting prowess, which has often been overlooked by "pure" action fans. He has shown great depth from time to time, and recent films like "Gorgeous" eschew almost all martial arts action in favor of real acting.

In "New Police Story," Jackie appears to pass the baton to his young costar, Nicholas Tse. I compare this film to "Drunken Master" or one of Jackie's other early films in that it is a master/student story, except that here, Jackie is the master on his way to retirement.

Jackie is Hong Kong inspector Wing, a 'top cop' who is disgraced when he leads a raid against a gang of rich punks that goes horribly wrong. After falling into a drunken depression, the younger brother of on of the fallen cops from the raid (Tse) steps in to help Wing find revenge -and peace with himself.

Jackie has a number of dramatic scenes in this film and he carries them well -I almost forgot it was Jackie Chan and not Chow Yun Fat or another Hong Kong actor known for drama. Jackie has a few action sequences, but he seems to allow Tse to carry out a lot of Jackie-style "goofy fights" in his stead (using his own coat as a weapon, etc.). I should mention that this is a very dark, violent film, quite unlike the usual Jackie Chan fair. Of Jackie's prior work, only "Crime Story" comes close, and this film is far darker.

All in all, this film is well worth seeing, although I suspect only Jackie and/or HK cinema fans will truly enjoy it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

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I've long been a fan of Jackie's films. He breathed new life into the genre like no other with his humorous style of combat; and it's inspiring to still see him move like he does at his age. The action in The New Police Story were just as fun as most of his lighter films; and the stunts were typically incredible, just as you expect from a Hong Kong production that isn't stiffled by Hollywood politics and/or insurance. And despite the more dramatic seriousness of Police Story, with a little Drunken Master mixed in, I found myself laughing much more than I expected. Aside from a few sequences that demand a little further explanation, The New Police Story was about as much fun as my favorite Chan films. The only real disappointment of the Blu-ray was that Lionsgate didn't include a lossless track for the original language. A lossless audio option is provided for the dub track; but only lossy audio is included in the original Chinese. That said, since I had a guest that doesn't like reading her movies, I opted for the dubbed track when we watched it and was surprised at the fidelity. The translation was word-for-word the same as the subtitles in the approx 5 minute portion of the film I compared the two. And the harmonics sounded very natural and dynamic. That Jackie did (most) of the voice dub for his character himself, further helped to make sitting through the dubbed track, not only bearable, but enjoyable.

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This movie is great action movie ever. This movie shows great of jackie chan's actions. I do have this dvd. I agree with the people to buy this movie, also this movie is the best action movie. I want you know this movie is awesome. They do hardcore actions. Even Jackie chan sliding on big builing in HONG KONG. I am big fan of jackie chan. I have all of his dvds but this movie is best action movie since rumble in the bronx or supercop. You have to watch that movie!!!!

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Don't ask questions, just buy this movie. If you are a fan of Jackie Chan, you have to own this one. This Ain't no Rush Hour. This is NOT an American action film. This is a Jackie Chan Action Film with all of Jackies crew. This movie has it all, good fights, good action, and good acting.

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