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- Last reviewJuly 25, 2016
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![The Great Outdoors [Blu-ray] [1988]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5143/5143715_sa.jpg)
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
The 90s was the most prominent time John Hughes had the most prevalence. Starting out writing for National Lampoon magazine before penning a few screenplays before striking a one-two punch in 1983 with Mr. Mom and National Lampoon's Vacation, before directing a few films of his own, while still writing a ton of films along with producing most of his scripts while handing them off to others. While John Hughes tended to direct some of his best work, sometimes a few gems would come along without his vision, such as the aforementioned NLV and MM but also Home Alone and Pretty in Pink.
1988 came rollin' around, Hughes had a screenplay ready to go, with a good cast and a director (Howard Deutch) whose first two films were Hughes-penned screenplays (Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful). Does this film deserve to be savored fresh from a fire-smoked grill or beaten into submission by a yuppie armed with a flyswatter?
Taking place in the northern woods of the USA (Possibly Illinois or Wisconsin), the Ripley's (Chet (The late, great John Candy), Connie (Stephanie Faracy), Buck (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti)) are travelling up to the woods to get away from the city life for a week and enjoy nature.
Of course their vacation is ruined when their in-laws, the Craig's (Roman (Dan Aykroyd) Kate (Annette Benning, in her big-screen debut) and their creepy twins Mara & Cara) drop-in unannounced, sharing the cabin and hijacking the laid back vacation. Tensions mount, battles are fought and wakes are sucked out in the great outdoors, much to Chet's growing dismay. Will Chet finally rid of his brother-in-law? Will Roman have a dark secret exposed during the vacation? Will the subtitled racoons have a spinoff film of their own? Only one way to find out by picking up a copy of The Great Outdoors.
Frankly, I am biased of this film, as I watched this film as a kid dozens upon dozens of times on a Sunday lineup of movies on TBS, watching my worn out recorded VHS copy (with some deleted scenes!) on a lazy, summer day with nothing to do and needing a laugh or two or, years later, inserting my DVD into the player to watch the film in glorious standard definition, which was the best way to watch it for a good decade, at least.
I cannot hate this film, and I cannot give anything less than high marks for this film, since I feel this is a classic comedy. This doesn't mean I have no beef with the film. No, I have a few issues with the movie, but I'll start with the good. If you didn't notice the cast, then shame on you as it has a great two-header of a cast with legendary performers Candy and Aykroyd and they deliver the laughs here!
Candy, as always, is a lovable, family man here, but slowly having his kettle boiled by the fire that is Aykroyd's character and him holding back his anger is a highlight, but also just his presence makes the film all that much better. Aykroyd is also terrific as Roman, bringing the rich, know-it-all attitude an investment banker who earned millions should have, here to the forefront and also having a blast railroading Chet's quiet vacation into a loud kegger.
Annette Benning does well here for her first starring role, as Roman's wife, as does Faracy as Candy's wife and have their moments, but make no mistake, this is Candy's and Aykroyd's film. The kids do okay work, just nothing really memorable done with their character's despite Buck having a summer fling with a local girl and the third act revolving around Roman's children! In fact I got more of a kick from the supporting local characters (Robert Prosky's lodge owner, Redge the Human Barometer and the raccoons being the most prominent) than the boring kids characters.
The screenplay is pretty decent, though it moves to a more episodic movie rather than a fully-fleshed out narrative or at least have a semblance of a plot, but it does have memorable episodes throughout and some highly quotable lines that I still use to this day. Despite its moments, the whole love story angle is quite boring, and feels shoehorned in. Heck, with some careful editing, you can actually edit out this plotline and have the film work much better (The beginning of the third act is also out of left field). Howard Deutch's direction is capable at best, directing actors very well, keeping the film moving at a nice clip and the comedy being well-played, but the film lacks a certain style which is kind of unfortunate. Though the camerawork provided by Ric Waite is nice and captures the woods nicely, this film just looks plain. The score is pretty nice, with a really good use of jazz thrown into the mix with the introduction of the Craig's and is all-around a good score. With everything considered, the film is still funny today as it was 28 years ago when it was released, and should be watched at least once by everyone who loves a good comedy.
Moving onto the BluRay, let's give the PQ/AQ a whirl. Having watched this movie my entire life on different formats (Basic cable, recorded VHS, retail VHS and DVD), I have to say the PQ is the best I have seen for this movie this side of the theatrical release, but it could've been so much better. While clearly a step up from the DVD from the 1990s and the John Candy 3-pack from a few years back (It shares disc space with Uncle Buck, but was anamorphically enhanced unlike the original DVD), this was just a DVD master transferred over to the disc, essentially. Despite everything, the film has a high bitrate, with appropriate details in the face, backgrounds and clothing, and of course the nature shots looks lush and green and brown. The 2.0 DTS-HD track is also nice, though nothing to scream about, just an age-appropriate track with stereo effects, music and dialogue coming through without a hitch. But wouldn't a remaster of the picture and sound be wonderful?
On the DVD, there are two trailers, one being a teaser while the other is the actual trailer, the BluRay only has the theatrical trailer. Though its not a deal-breaker, completists will want to hold onto their DVD's just to have the teaser o hand. Though a commentary and a making-of would've been great (Or just the deleted scenes from the network version would be just as welcome), Universal just took what they had, gussied it up and called it a day, which is fine but what I would give for a Shout! Factory or an Arrow re-release with extras and remastering.
Despite everything, the movie itself is a must own and the disc us a must buy despite the transfer being older and a general lack of extras outside of a trailer and for under $10, its worth to add to any collection, just let go of the rope and you'll be fine!
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![Green Lantern [Extended Cut] [3 Discs] [Includes Digital Copy] [3D] [Blu-ray/DVD] [Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD] [2011]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/3477/3477083_sa.jpg)
Must enter redemption code by expiration date to redeem UltraViolet offer. Does not include iTunes file.
Customer Rating
3
"Don't make the supersuit green... or animated!!!"
on June 23, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
On June 17th, 2011, I heard about Green Lantern being a total wash as an origin story, a comic book movie and a movie in general. The film was a huge bomb at the box office, only grossing $220 million worldwide (On a $200 million budget) and a 26% RT score. The film killed Ryan Reynolds' career for a good 5 years and the film series itself was scuttled after the abysmal performance of the film. Comic book geeks hate it, critics loathed it and people in general disregarded it. Is the film really that bad, or is it a diamond in the rough? Well, lets read on....
Billions of years ago, the Guardians of the Universe (No, not the galaxy) used the green essence of willpower to create the Green Lantern Corps, splitting the universe into 3600 sectors, with one protector per sector (Confusing so far?). Abin Sur is the Green Lantern of 2814, which has Earth in its realm, and who defeated Parallax, an ancient entity embodying the yellow light of fear, and cast him to the Lost Sector. Unfortunately, in the present day, survivors of a crash landing on Ryut are killed by Parallax, gaining strength from their fear and attacks his captor, Abin Sur, nearly killing him in the process.
Meanwhile, on Earth in the present day, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is a cocky test pilot for Ferris Aircraft, testing a new prototype and ultimately destroying it) who has feelings for the VP of Ferris Aircraft, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). After almost dying, he is riding home when he sees a fiery crash, caused by Abin Sur.
Abin Sur told his ring to find a worthy successor. Jordan arrives, finding him, and is forced to take the ring and recite the oath which makes him the new Green Lantern, the first Earthling to do so. After saying the oath at his apartment, he is suddenly whisked away to the planet Oa, the HQ of the Guardians of the Universe. There, he meets Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush) who trains the new recruit with his power ring, Kilowag (Michael Clark Duncan) the drill sergeant of the Corps and Sinestro (Mark Strong) who is a mentor of Hal Jordan.
Despite his training, Sinestro doesn't believe he is fit being a Green Lantern, due to him believed to be unfit and fearful. Hal quits the Corps, returning to Earth,keeping the ring and the lantern. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) is an eccentric professor who is picked by his father, Sen. Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins) to lead a government-led autopsy, with co-operation with Dr. Waller (Angela Bassett), to perform the autopsy. Unfortunately, a piece of Parallax was left inside the corpse, which enters Dr. Hammond, and gifts him telekinesis and telepathy, but derives him of his sanity.
Learning that his father only chose him to be on the team was because of his father's influence, he decides to kill his father with his telepathy at a party. Jordan, however, saves Senator Hammond, along with other guests at the party, with Carol amongst the guests. Hammond does manage to kill his father, by burning him alive and Jordan then learning Parallax is coming to Earth.
Back on Oa, Sinestro learns that Parallax is an embodiment of fear, they decide to forge a ring made of the yellow essence of fear, hoping to defeat fear with fear itself. Jordan returns to Oa, hoping to convince the Guardians that using such a ring would turn the user evil. Being rejected, he returns to Earth, alone, and preparing to save Carol, defeat Parallax and save the planet.
Wow, this isn't the most easy to follow plot, nor is it the smoothest movie to watch. Performances were pretty decent, with Reynolds being a good choice as Hal Jordan. Bringing some Deadpool and some Van Wilder to the performance, he manages to believably fill the shoes (Or would that be ring?) of the Green Lantern. Blake Lively, a decent actress, is rather hit-or-miss here, looking nice and not doing to bad and having decent chemistry with her future husband in real life, is too young to believably be a VP and as a fighter pilot.
Sarsgaard is very strange and weird, making Hector Hammond a weird, childish, effete man with major daddy issues. His performance was just too weird to actually do anything effective as a villain or anything at all for that matter. Mark Strong is great as Sinestro (Made me with they actually filmed a sequel just to see him go toe-to-toe with Hal) believably being a mentor while being an effective leader and later, a villain. Duncan and Rush do good voice-over work as well, and the rest of the cast doing good work here.
Martin Campbell (Of Casino Royale and GoldenEye acclaim) directs this film and, unsurprisingly, isn't up to the task of effectively directing a comic book movie of this magnitude. Campbell is a great action director, giving us terrific action scenes in his 007 outings as well as some great swordplay in his Zorro films, this film however is a bit out of his grasp. While getting (mostly) effective performances here, the flow of the story is fairly obtuse, the action staging seemingly rushed and cheap looking despite the huge price tag,and is seemingly off his A-game. A huge disappointment.
The story is also the same way, with a credited 4(!) writers on hand (Credited to Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Green and Michael Goldenberg) and as such, falls victim to the same too-many-cooks-stirring-the-same-pot as other films tend to do. While it does have a beginning, middle and end, it isn't a memorable story, there isn't enough time spent in space (If this was 50% Oa, 50% Eaarth, it would've been better) training Hal, the dialogue is fairly clunky and cliched and the action being uninteresting despite having a huge deluge of comic book lore to go through. A Hot Wheels inspired action scene is cute, but very corporate, cheesy and duller than a toddler's wit.
The CGI, in some parts is good, but mainly settles for the cartoony, with the CGI models looking plastic-y, Parallax looking as non-threatening as Galactus in FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and the green energy suit being an outright joke, despite a good idea behind it. Even the mask is CG! The editing is decent, the production design fair, and the score being forgettable, this all adds up to a mediocre movie.
But, I still find it entirely watchable, with Reynolds being a good lead, and Mark Strong a great Sinestro, it entirely warrants a watch, if only to see how not to make an origin story. Still, this is way better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fant4stic and Batman & Forever, but thats not saying much.
Movin on to the BluRay, we start with the PQ/AQ. Can I say this image rivals The Dark Knight and thats not a good thing. The 2D image is very dark and murky, even in sunlight scenes and scenes where explosions or the bursts of green and yellow are the main color, it fails to give us that color punch a lot of us are expecting despite being the best shots of the disc(s). Luckily, the dark shadows does manage to cover up some of the seams of the CGI quite well. Despite it all, the image does look rather nice and detailed, giving us a sharp image with facial details and sets looking nice and preserving the film grain, but turn up the brightness just a few hairs to improve your enjoyment.
The 3D, on the other hand, is a disappointment to say the least. Despite a few shots lending a nice 3D image quality, the dark image quality tends to flatten most of the depth, and certain scenes that should pop out just manage to stick out just a tad. Not the worst, but certainly near the bottom of 3D bluray's.
The AQ is amazing, with action scenes, music, dialogue and effects all balanced nicely with a nice deep LFE track for your added enjoyment of the 5.1 DTS-HD audio track. Really, a terrific track.
Moving on to the extras, we start off with two cuts of the film: Theatrical (Running 114 minutes) and the extended cut (123 min.). While offering a few new scenes giving us a bit more to work with, the whole film still feels incomplete. (Note the Theatrical cut is only in 3D). Next up is WB's Maximum Movie Mode: Green Lantern's Light, running 161 minutes. While not as great as Kevin Smith or Zach Snyder MMM's, this does offer a nice package of interviews, Focus Point featurettes (Accessible separately in the special features running 47 minutes in total) trivia and more, all hosted by Geoff Johns, the CEO of DCE (And new head of the DCEU movies after Snyder kinda dropping the ball with BvS).
The Universe According to the Green Lantern (20 min.) is a nice look at the comics with DC writers, filmmakers and fans offer us some nice tidbits about our titular hero. Ryan Reynolds Becomes the Green Lantern (9 min.) is a look on how Reynolds became Hal Jordan, while wearing a MoCap suit and talks about his take on the character. 7 minutes of mediocre deleted scenes are up next, leaving little to be desired or memorable. Justice League #1 Digital Comic is a 9 minute comic of the first issue of the universally despised New 52 comics relaunch. Lastly, is a 7 minute preview of the Green Lantern Animated Series, with simplistic animation, looks very good and has some good voice acting as well.
Also included in the package is a DVD of the film (With the latter two extras included on the disc) a UV copy of the film (One of the first films to carry the Ultraviolet brand) and a code to unlock a special skin for Batman: Arkham City.
All in all, a very mediocre comic book origin movie, though a few good performances, is mainly a watch just to see what all the hubbub was about years ago. The PQ is mediocre, with weak 3D carried by an amazing soundtrack and a generous portion of extras, its safe to say stick with the 2D version unless you want to experience the "3D" yourself, and only then don't spend more than $15 or so on the disc.
On a side note, WB totally missed out on giving the BluRay case itself an Emerald Green case which would've been cool, although the first-run DVD cases had a green case.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Gaming at home or on the go is great, but there's always something more to be experienced. The Nintendo Network offers plenty of opportunities for added excitement, so pick up a prepaid card and prepare to explore those possibilities.Experience more enjoyable content on your Nintendo systems with this prepaid card for the eShop on the Nintendo Network. Choose from a variety of games, videos and more that download in seconds and can be played or viewed on your Nintendo Wii U or 3DS. Plus, this special edition character card lets you use your Nintendo 3DS and the Photos with Mario app (download required) to play and pose with Mario.
Customer Rating
5
Excellent gift card with a fun surprise!
on June 22, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
This $10 3DS/Wii U gift card is an excellent present for anyone to give and/or receive. This amount is perfect for some excellent Virtual Console games from decades past, present and everywhere in-between. Also, it is great for some great DLC and apps, and the included AR card is a fun treat as well.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![See No Evil, Hear No Evil [Blu-ray] [1989]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5289/5289244_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Silver Streak 2...? Not hardly...
on June 13, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
Silver Streak is a classic 1976 film that teamed up two inspired comedians: Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Two comedians/actors who had different styles of comedy but when they got together, boy did they create some amazing comedy and had terrific chemistry. Though not exactly friends in real life (When making their second film, Stir Crazy, a rather infamous incident fueled by Pryor's drug addiction strained their relationship severly) they managed to make four films together and each one with their chemistry on full display. So is this film any different, the third of their four films together?
David Lyons(Gene Wilder), a former actor who runs a newsstand in New York City,after going deaf from a bout of scarlet fever in his youth. Managing to fool everybody for the most part, mainly by learning to read lips, he gets by rather well independently. Wally Karue (Richard Pryor) is a blind man who isn't too great with money, managing to lose at the tracks over and over again, and owes his bookie several grand in losses.
Finding a job opening at Dave's newsstand, he manages to easily befriend him and land the job, after a bar fight celebrating Wally's success of landing a job. First day on the job, Wally's bookie comes looking for him, but is away gathering the morning deliveries of papers. Unbeknownst to the bookie, he was followed by two rather shady people: Eve (Joan Severance) and Kirgo (Kevin Spacey), who work for Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe).
The bookie was running a stolen coin for Sutherland, but was about to run off with the coin to sell it himself. While tricking David to read a box of antacid to him, the bookie is shot dead, and David and Wally are confused as the murderers. They take his belongings and try searching for the missing coin, but the bookie hid the coin in David's coin box.
While being detained, the duo manage to escape from the cops, and they set out to solve the mystery of who killed Wally's bookie, why they killed him over a coin, and try to earn their freedom, along with Wally's sister, Adele (Kirsten Childs).
I remember watching this film as a young kid in the early 90s (Weird choice, being an R rated comedy though edited heavily on TV) and discovering the talents of Wilder and Pryor, and enjoying them to this day, and being over 20 years later since I first viewed the film, how does it hold up? Rather well actually.
I recall learning years later about Pryor's and Wilder's difficulties, kind of saddened but watching their movies, its never noticeable they were indifferent to each other. Their pairing here is still successful, managing to mine comedy gold in almost every scene throughout the film, despite some questionable screenwriting here and there. Joan Severance and Kevin Spacey also have good chemistry as well as the main villains, with Severance as Eve successfully playing a seductive killer. Spacey showcases his talent fairly early in his career, and while not on the level of Verbal Kint or Frank Underwood, manages to be quite evil here. Alan North as the exasperated police captain Braddock is very amusing, made to look like a fool by the duo who should be seemingly easy to catch with their disabilities. Zerbe is effective as Sutherland, making the most as a mostly heard role, and Childs as Adele is also good as Wally's sister.
Arthur Hiller, teaming up 13 years after Silver Streak with his stars, manages to direct his actors well, finding the right balance throughout, and pacing it well for most of the run time with a few slow spots here and there but is mainly just exposition, which brings me to the screenplay. Credited to six (!) people (Marvin Worth, a producer on the film helped write the story with Earl Barret & Arne Sultan who wrote the initial draft, with Eliot Wald & Andrew Kurtzman doing another pass with Gene Wilder himself writing a draft as well), the film is a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.
The plot is fairly lazy (Imagine of Hitchcock directed an R-rated comedy) , some dialogue being fairly poor and is just an overall jumbled mess, but the actors and director manage to roll with the punches and craft a fun movie. The cinematography by Victor J. Kemper creates a sleek, crisp look to the comedy, managing to capture the hustle and bustle of New York extremely well (He did film Dog Day Afternoon after all in NYC) and still looks terrific.
The score, by Stewart Copeland of The Police, gives us a nice score, with some nice electric guitar undertones, with a nice synth beat giving life to the film and helps set the tone for the film. Production design is nice, editing is okay, but there are a few scenes where it could've used some better takes or added some inserts to help things flow a bit more smoothly, but better than a lot of movies out there and the costumes (Especially Severance's wardrobe) is very well done as well.
Moving onto the BluRay, we start off with the PQ and for a 20+ year comedy that was shot on 35mm film, the results are quite good. Film grain is present but never obtrusive, colors are accurate and saturated well, the New York locations are detailed very nicely and the details of the costumes are rendered well. The AQ is also rendered well via a LPCM 2.0 stereo track that has some great stereo separation and dialogue and music come through very well here.
Unfortunately there are no extras to be had, not even a trailer or a TV spot for the film. On the original DVD release and on a few other Sony DVD's, there was a couple of trailers present for the film. Its a shame Image Entertainment couldn't be bothered to include them or nab some interviews from Wilder and Hiller, a commentary or even some deleted scenes.
Overall, this is a fun comedy, worthy to watch over and over again, but it can't quite nab the suspense like SIlver Streak, or have a few classic moments Stir Crazy had, but you can count on this film being superior to their last film together, Another You. That is a different review for a different time.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![Gremlins [WS] [DVD] [1984]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4684/4684979_sa.jpg)
This special edition re-release of Gremlins is a vast improvement over the original disc. To begin with, the image, which is framed at the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, shows clear signs of the new digital transfer. Colors are sharp and vibrant (though maybe a little over saturated at times) with blacks that are solid. Overall the immediate impression of the picture is better than would be expected. The sound, which uses the same 5.1 English track from the original release, is certainly good, but never takes advantage of the entire sound field. It's generally centered up front, but is distortion free and produces clear audio. The main difference between releases is obviously the supplemental features. Whereas the first disc was basically movie only, this one has a number of nice features. At the top of the list would have to be two new commentary tracks. The first is enthusiastic and informational with director Joe Dante and actors Zach Galligan, Howie Mandel, and the less heard Phoebe Cates and Dick Miller. The second is a little more technical, but nevertheless entertaining with Dante again, producer Michael Finnell, and special effects artist Chris Walas. The rest of the extras, while good, are less spectacular. Along with ten minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary is a six-minute featurette with behind-the-scenes shots and interviews, a photo/storyboard gallery, and cast and crew biographies. Rounding this nice package out are three trailers, two for this film and one for the sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Customer Rating
4
"Now I have another reason to hate Christmas..."
on June 12, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
A comedy with horror elements, set at Christmas, released in the summer of 1984, earning positive reviews (Despite many being turned off by the violence) and earned a ton of money at the box office and a huge cult following 30+ years after release. How does this compute?
A few days before Christman, Randy Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is in Chinatown in New York City (Well... at least presumably NYC) and is looking to sell his inventions in one of the many shops around. He finds, with the aid of a young kid, a trinket shop, ran by the boy's grandfather, Mr. Wing (Key Luke).
Upon trying to sell his wares, he comes across a strange creature; very rare but also very interesting. He tries to buy the creature for his son, but Mr. Wing refuses because he couldn't handle the huge responsibility of taking care of a Mogwai. Of course, his grandson sneaks him out and sells him the Mogwai, with three rules: Sunlight will kill them, do not get the creature wet, and don't feed them after midnight.
Back in Kingston Falls, USA, Randy's son Billy (Zach Galligan, in his screen debut) is working at the local bank, trying to earn a living until his drawing lands him a better job and also trying to get a date with co-worker, Kate (Phoebe Cates). His father comes back from his trip, with an early gift in tow for Billy, the Mogwai he dubs "Gizmo" (Voiced by Howie Mandel).
Billy manages to take real good care of Gizmo, but when his young friend Pete (Corey Feldman) accidentally spills water on Gizmo, it unleashes more Mogwai, who tend to be more unruly than Gizmo. Billy decides to take Gizmo to his old school science teacher to run some tests on his own creature he creates with water. In the meantime, Billy tries to take care of all of the creatures, but is tricked into feeding them after midnight, after his clock wire is chewed loose. This then creates something far more dangerous, far more scary and more sinister... Gremlins!
Billy must then team up with Kate and Gizmo to protect himself, his family and the rest of Kingston Falls from falling into chaos. Will they succeed? Will they fall in love? Does the mogwai have internal clocks that tell them where midnight is in their timezone?
Has anybody never saw this classic film? Endlessly parodied, countless ripoffs (The series of Critters films, Muchies and Hobgoblins just to name a few) and was supposedly even the inspiration for the Furby, this film has huge influence. That, and the film is a ton of fun and pretty dark to boot.
I really like how black the film got, with the infamous scene of Kate telling the story of her father while hiding from the gremlins, but also making some of the darker elements huge sources of comedy and hasn't aged a bit. The story is well-paced, managing to entice us throughout the whole journey and not be boring.
The two leads have good chemistry, and while Galligan did pretty well as a first time lead (Charming, not bad looking as a lead, delivers a line fairly well), but Cates acts better overall and manages to believably make her character tragic but hopeful. The supporting cast does tremendous work, with Axton delivering a warm, fatherly performance, Feldman does good work as Pete, Mandel doing a voice fairly similarly to Bobby from Bobby's World (Anybody remember that show...?) but not annoying at all, Key Luke doing good work as the stubborn Mr. WIng and Polly Holliday as Mrs. Deagle (The single richest person in town who is a real you-know-what) are all fantastic. Of course, Billy's neighbor is played by iconic character actor Dick Miller and shines as the only real believer in gremlins, though in a fairly xenophobic way, but still believes in them.
Joe Dante brings his A-game to the film, managing to imbue his style into a major Hollywood film. Though able to be serious in the serious moments, there is a comedic pulse throughout the entire film that could undercut several scenes, but manages to subside until needed. Which is often needed and well done. Chris Columbus' screenplay, his first screenplay (Followed by The Goonies' and Young Sherlock Holmes, all three made by Spielberg) and manages to be a great mix of comedy and horror (Originally, this was a pitch black comedy, where the gremlins would eat patrons of a McD's instead of the burgers... 'nuff said) and has terrific flow and great use of the Christmas-time setting, which Columbus would use to great effect when he became a director, making the classic Home Alone years later.
The makeup, special effects and puppetry are flat out amazing, with the creature design by Chris Walas being absolutely fantastic (He later did the makeup for The Fly, winning an Oscar), with Gizmo and the gremlins looking fantastic and real, and the goopy slime effects also used to great effect. The score by Jerry Goldsmith, though not one of his epic masterpieces along the lines of Patton or Planet of the Apes, but manages to carve out a nice synth/orchestral score, with the more traditional sound blending well with the carnival-esque depravity of the Gremlins when they appear onscreen, unleashing havoc.
The cinematography (C/O John Hora) is also used well, being Rockwell-ish but if Norman Rockwell decided to paint small town America with Dali influences. The editing is well done and is cut where there is no lag time in-between scenes and flows well, the sound being decent but decidedly analogue, and the set design appropriately recreating winter in the dead heat of California in the middle of summer.
Moving on to the DVD, we'll start with the PQ. Shot in 1.85 on 35mm film (Blown-up 70mm prints were also released) and anamorphically enhanced, the picture here is pretty decent but not stellar. Though the cinematography has some influence on the look, the film can be grainy and soft at times, but the details are fairly sharp for a DVD and the colors do look great as well. Just don't expect a hugely modern look and feel and you'll be within expectations. The AQ is a bit better, but the 5.1 Dolby Digital track doesn't add too much the the presentation. The surrounds are used from time to time, but don't be looking for a strong LFE presence or an aural wonderland of delights, and mainly benefits the music. The original stereo track is also included and works better for the film overall.
The extras are fairly excellent, and puts the special in special edition. Starting off is the first of two commentaries, with Joe Dante, produce Mike Finnell and Chris Walas headlining track one. Though it is tech-minded, talking about BTS issues with the puppets, how certain shots were made, et cetera, but they manage to have fun and not be a boring track. Track two is just as good, this time Dante wrangling Galligan, Cates, Dick Miller and Mandel to the party, and manages to be a very entertaining and worthwhile track. Overlap is almost non-existent, and there are some great stories such as an accident Cates had with a moped to Galligan an inch away from being electrocuted fatally when destroying a neon sign. Both are excellent and worthy of your time,
Moving on, is a rather disappointing set of extras (Especially compared to the excellent commentaries) starting off with a vintage 1983 making-of that has some good BTS shots and interesting comments from cast and crew, but with muffled sound quality and it being so short, its good for a viewing once or twice. Next up are 10 minutes with deleted scenes (w/ optional commentary with Dante, Galligan, Mandel, Miller & Cates) with a few okay scenes, including a subplot where Mrs. Deagle was knowingly firing workers and forcibly foreclosing on homes for a strip mall, and one that many TV viewers will notice that follows the infamous speech in the bank.
Rounding out the extras are an extensive set of photo galleries, biographies of cast and crew members, production notes and trailers to this and the sequel.
Overall, this classic is treated well on DVD, with okay picture and sound, but the extras (Mainly the commentaries) make up for it, and is a must own if you don't want to upgrade to HD, though it is worth it with better picture and sound along with all the extras and new ones if you get the Diamond Luxe release. But, if you need a cheap DVD to entertain you for 90 minutes, look no further and comes highly recommended.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![Planes, Trains and Automobiles [Blu-ray] [1987]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/3215/3215223_sa.jpg)
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
Christmas movies are a dime a dozen. You could literally fill multiple RedBox machines with Halloween movies alone, but there is only a handful of films set during Thanksgiving, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles has the market cornered. How? Well... Let me tell you a tale of two John's and a Steve.
2 days before Thanksgiving, Neal Page (Steve Martin) is in New York trying to get to the airport to fly home to Chicago and prepare for Thanksgiving with his family. Of course, nothing goes right after he steps foot out on the streets, chasing for a cab, losing $75 to a lawyer but having the cab stolen from right under his nose, to a delay in his flight.
While waiting for his flight, he meets the guy who stole his cab, Del Griffith (John Candy) a shower-curtain ring salesman. Unfortunately, a snowstorm in Chicago diverts their flight to Wichita, Kansas, where they team up to get home on time for the holidays, either by plane, or by train, or by automobile. But fate keeps them from getting anywhere fast, bonding in the process.
This film was something different from the usual John Hughes fare. I'm not saying there was anything with the usual from Hughes, giving us classic films like Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, but this was a big step above teenagers lives and moving into adulthood and eventually parenthood with his last few films, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles is arguably his best work.
The main plot is getting home before Thanksgiving Day, so they can enjoy time with their loved ones. Simple enough, but its the character interactions and dialogue that makes this film what it is and where it really shines. I love the clever visual gags, the one-minute long f-bomb tirade unleashed by Martin's character is hilarious and the whole film is just filled with great comedy, but the heart helps the humor land without fault.
Helping the film with the comedy and emotional core are two excellent leading performances by Martin and Candy, bouncing off each other extremely well. I was also surprised of how well they acted, able to breathe life into these characters. Take note: in the hotel scene, when Neal unleashes his frustrations of his bad day on Del, Candy just takes it and it's heartbreaking to see his face. His retort is classic, noting his flaws but wears them openly and without care. It takes skill to make us care for the characters and not hate them after an angry diatribe (Neal is visibly regretful with his speech) that Neal has spewed forth.
John Hughes directs and with his signature style, and manages to make this film soar to the skies and above. Balancing drama and comedy is hard, but Hughes has always made it look so easy and continues his success here. His maturing style gives the film a better look and feel, while capably directing his actors and eeking out great work from all involved.
The cinematography (C/O Don Peterman) is not fantastic, but this is more of a travelogue film, so its more of a journeyman look, which delivers in spades. The score is also very mediocre, with Ira Newborn giving a fairly lightweight track, mainly dominated by a synthesizer, but still manages to be memorable in its own right. The editing is great, the costumes evoking that warm, cozy look and the sets accurately capturing the cheap motel rooms and greasy spoons with aplomb.
Moving onto the BluRay itself, we start off with the PQ. Paramount usually has terrific releases when it comes to their releases, even their catalog releases usually are decent at the very best. When I read that Footloose had a terrible, DNR'd mess of a BluRay (It had great sound and tons of extras to counterbalance the poor picture), it had me worried that Paramount was pulling a Universal and DNR-ing the living daylights out of everything.
Fear not, as the picture here is decent but still has some flaws within. While retaining accurate colors and retaining the overall look of the film, DNR rears its ugly head with some waxy-looking faces and frozen grain, but still has some decent facial details and fabrics also look nice. Still, a nice 4K remaster with sparring use of DNR would be terrific, but still not a terrible picture. Faring better is the AQ, sporting a decent 5.1 DTS-HD track, which was a remix created back from the first DVD release. Though an 80s comedy track through and through, it manages to keep the dialogue clear and pop-free, front and centered at all times, but there is some nice surround use, with music and ambient noises taking up the majority of the rear channels. Just don't be expecting Die Hard and you'll be as a sound as a pound.
Moving along to the extras, you'll be glad to notice that, not only is this a major leg up from the featureless DVD from the start of the millennium, but even has more extras than the "Those Aren't Pillows" Special Edition (I'm soooo glad that Paramount stopped with the ridiculous special edition names). The newest addition is an hour-long look at the late, great John Hughes. John Hughes: Live Moves Pretty Fast is a fascinating documentary, split into two parts, and goes into detail about his life and career. Its a long look to his legendary films and filled with interviews with cast members from a variety of films he had written or directed. A truly worthwhile addition, and in HD! The rest of the extras are retained from the special edition DVD (And all, except one, are in SD) starting with Getting There Is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Clocking in at a rather short 17 minutes, it nonetheless is a nice overview of the film, with vintage interviews with the cast and crew along with newer interviews with Michael McKean and Edie McClurg giving their thoughts about the film and their scenes.
Following up is John Hughes for Adults, a four minute look at Hughes making an adult-centered movie for the first time. Also too brief is A Tribute to John Candy, a 3 minute look at cast and crew reflecting on his acting abilities, comedy chops and being an all around good person. Too bad, this could have easily been expanded to an 1+ hours and been a must see. Too Bad.
Last, but certaintly not least, is one deleted scene out of a rumored 3-hour cut (Supposedly there is another film's worth of footage rotting away in the vaults at Paramount), but its a good scene at that, and in HD! It is arguably the most well-known scene added to the TV version, titled Airplane Food. At around three-and-a-half minutes, this is a funny scene talking about the specifics of ordering food from different airlines, what happens hen flights are delayed and the resulting food quality and more. Easily could've been added into the film without hurting the flow or pacing, and would have been nice for the studio to have a seamless branching option, but its still nice of them to include the scene at all.
Overall, this is a must own film, one of the great comedies of all time (Not just a holiday movie and could be enjoyed year 'round) packed with comedy, great performances, and sharp dialogue and direction and with a decent BluRay disc with some okay PQ but strong AQ and worthwhile extras at a low price makes the film a no-brainer!
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![The Expendables [DVD] [2010]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/1519/1519259_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Too old for this stuff...? Nope!
on June 10, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
Sylvester Stallone is arguably one of the biggest box office stars of all time, but in every star's career there are low points. Stallone starred in some box office hits in the 90s, with Demolition Man and Cliffhanger being some of his best films, but also starring in some big duds such as Judge Dredd, The Specialist, Stop or My Mom Will Shoot!, and many more. I'm glad he got some great notices from James Mangold's Cop Land, but then he kept choosing box office poison, swigging down the likes of Driven, D-Tox, and Spy Kids 3D.
Luckily he saw he was down, but not out and drummed up Rocky Balboa and followed it up with Rambo, earning critical and commercial success. He then dreamed up a great idea, gather up the old and discarded action heroes from the 1980s (and some modern stars as well) and team up for a blow 'em up extravaganza and in all of its R-rated glory.
Apparently it worked, with 2 sequels (With a 3rd on the way)a female-oriented spin-off and huge sales of the DVD and BluRay discs, but is it all for nostalgia or is it truly awesome?
Stallone stars as Barney Ross (Stallone), head of The Expendables, a team of tough-as-nails mercenaries hired to do suicide missions that most wouldn't survive outside this group. The group consists of Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Hale Ceasar (Terry Crews), Toll Road (MMA star Randy Couture) and Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) and team support at home with Todd (Mickey Rourke), offering tattoos, tune-ups and wise philosophy.
After several disagreements with Gunner, Ross returns home, only for his much-needed break to be interrupted by a mysterious man named Mr. Church (Bruce WIllis, in cameo form). They are hired by Church (In a much-publicized scene between Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger as Trench) to fly to a Caribbean island, Vilena, to stop a drug trade ran by Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his puppet leader.
Forcing to team up with his crew and facing a familiar face and similarly beefed-up bros (Headed up by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) to stop the drug trade, save Ross' love interest and rescue a nation ruled by a dictatorship. Think Commando + Red Heat and a helping of Cobra and you're on the right track.
I was hoping for so much with this film, promised with brainless, balls-to-the-wall action filled with all the bone, blood and sinew your eyes can take in, but I was left fairly disappointed. When I read about the cast, I was expecting more legendary action stars in the film (No Van Damme, Norris, Chan, Schwarzenegger in a bigger role, Snipes or Russell?) and I'm glad they had Lundgren and Stallone, but they filled it with more contemporary stars and athletes than anything.
Stallone and Statham are positively awesome in this movie, with a type of "bromestry" only a few films can capture. Terry Crews is always a welcome sight, not afraid to be a lovable goofball, but also not afraid to kick some butt. Rourke makes the most of his role, and Schwarzenegger and Willis manage to have fun in their cameos as well.
Roberts, a good actor when given good material, manages to have some fun, acting over-the-top as the main villain but isn't exactly a great villain. Austin, Li and Couture are, either given nothing to do or are uninteresting (Li in this case) or are acting very poorly (As in this case, Austin and Couture).
The direction, provided by Stallone is overall pretty decent, with Sly capably directing action scenes and exciting set pieces, manages to get some decent performances and balances it all rather well. The screenplay is very poor, but given this is a love-letter to the 80s action stars/films, its to be expected. The films cinematography, when not indulging in "shaky cam", looks pretty good, with the image lending a dark and grainy film, giving The Expendables a grindhouse feel, making all your nostalgia come crashing in. The score is decent, the sound mix is incredible, the CGI is okay, and is everything a big-budget film should have.
Moving on to the DVD, we start with the PQ. The film (Shot on Super 35, giving us that grainy look) was shot in the 2.35 aspect ratio, and is preserved well on the DVD and is anamorphically enhanced to fit HDTV's. The PQ is very well done for a modern DVD, with the details being sharp, colors and contrast balanced, accurate skin tones and upscaling on a BluRay player with a 1080p TV boosts up image quality considerably. The audio quality is also excellent (for DVD) with the 5.1 Dolby Digital EX track being an extremely active track, with the audio depicting explosions, gunshots, music, and one-liners with accurate and bass-y use.
Moving on to the extras, the film contains a commentary track with writer/director/producer/star Sylvester Stallone, giving us a smart and detailed track, keeping it lively with plenty of BTS info and terrific insight. Next up is a terrific making-of documentary titled "Before the Battle", lasting around 20 minutes, with plenty of interviews, BTS footage and also showing the injuries Stallone had incurred during filming (He broke his neck during a fight scene with Steve Austin!), severely slowing the shoot to a crawl. A very good documentary, but for the full length version, buy the BluRay/DVD combo pack.
Next up is a single deleted scene, which lasts less than a minute, is a terrible joke, told terribly by Lundgren and understandably deleted. Next. Last, but not least, is a fun gag reel and some trailers round out this decently packed release.
All in all, this is a fun movie, but it does take itself a bit to seriously in a few scenes which dampens the fun, but before you can say automatic shotgun, the film becomes a blast, and with stellar specs (for a DVD) and decent extras, it is worthy to add on your shelf. Still consider the BluRay though, with terrific HD picture and demo worthy sound with a ton more extras to plow through, its a no brainer!
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![The Blues Brothers [2 Discs] [Blu-ray/DVD] [1980]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4799/4799912_sa.jpg)
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
Back in the 1970s, SNL was a huge deal, launching a juggernaut of comedic talent and movie stars. Dan Aykroyd and his SNL co-star and friend, John Belushi, created The Blues Brothers, Elwood and Jake Blues, from their love of blues music (Rather Aykroyd's love for it, but got Belushi to come around) and created a classic act that spread over across multiple episodes of SNL, a best selling blues album and eventually, a movie.
Armed with a screenplay literally the size of a phone book, a huge budget, two rising stars and a director fresh from Animal House, how does it turn out?
On the outset of the film, "Joliet Jake" Blues (Belushi) is released from Joliet prison, and is picked up by his brother Elwood (Aykroyd) in the iconic Bluesmobile, which is an old 70s police car (Love the irony) and driven to their orphanage to talk to The Penguin (Kathleen Freeman, not portraying the Batman villain). They learn their childhood home is being sold to the Board of Education and must pay $5,000 in back taxes to keep the orphanage operational.
They see a sign from above from God ("We're on a mission from God.") and decide to get the band back together. It is harder than it sounds, due to their band mates landing some solid gigs and earning some nice green. Oh, and the Illinois State Police, Illinois hate groups and a country-western band are on their tail, hoping to lynch the Blues, on top of raising $5,000. Will they raise the roof or have it crumble on top of them? Will the police capture the brothers? Well, you will just have to watch the film to find out.
Let me just say, this film is truly one of the funniest films of all time, bar none. It isn't just a straight up comedy, as it is more akin to something more epic like The Great Race or It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. How do I suppose this is like the film? Jaw droppingly awesome and real stuntwork that varies from a car chase that destroys an entire mall to turning Chicago into a veritable warzone chasing the Blues brothers downtown, and destroying dozens of cop cars.
I just love how epic the film is, but its much more than just action, it also has some great musical numbers throughout, from the likes of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway and more! The acting from the two leads is fantastic, and feel like they are real brothers and complement each other well. Supporting players from the likes of Kathleen Freeman, Carrie Fisher, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier and more add to a memorable film.
Of course not all of the actors are great. As I stated, there are some real musicians in the film, some doing pretty decent (Franklin manages to be exquisitely sassy here, Ray Charles doing well) but for the Blues Brothers Band, well is another story. You can tell they are not actors (Alan Rubin, the maitre'd and sax player fares the best here) and their line readings can be downright awful, but those are few and far between, as the main focus is on the brothers, as it should be.
John Landis directs his first big budget film, and he doesn't disappoint at all. I'm surprised he wasn't overwhelmed, mainly coming from low-budget films (Animal House, The Kentucky Fried Movie), and letting the film lose his grip, but he holds on tight and never lets go. He captures Chicago beautifully, respecting the culture within the Windy City, gives the film an epic touch and makes it hilariously rather effortlessly.
The screenplay (Dan Aykroyd and John Landis, who came in to whittle the script to a shootable movie) is well-written from a comedy aspect, but the plot is really simple (Get the money, get it back, pay taxes) but that gives much more room to have more comedy and it delivers in spades. Witty dialogue here, a pileup of tax-payer funded cop cars there, all for the sake of comedy.
As for the rest of the film, the cinematography is decent for a 1980 film, the sound design is well-mixed, the costumes are iconic, the editing is sharp and cut well and the music is also well-done. All in all, you can tell this was a blockbuster from 1980 and doesn't disappoint in the least!
Moving on to the BluRay disc, I got a bit scared. See, Universal is infamously known for their catalog releases on BluRay. Edge enhancement, egregious use of DNR (digital noise removal) and changing the look of the entire movie. Luckily, Landis was brought in to supervise the transfer, and I can say its a wonderful looking BluRay. Shot on grainy film from 1980, I was expecting a noisy mess, but was glad to see an extremely detailed image, with neon lights popping off the screen well, sharp images, and no signs of EE anywhere. The AQ is a bit of a downer though. Remixed to 5.1 on the original DVD release from 1998, the 5.1 DTS track sounds amazing, but it is not lossless DTS-HD unfortunately. Luckily, this is a well done track, with it being one of the best lossy tracks on any BluRay I have ever heard.
Moving onto the extras, there is plenty to dig into, but nothing substantial has been added since the 2005 25th anniversary DVD release. Starting off, we are treated to the original theatrical and extended cuts and both are equally good, but for a tighter film, stick with the theatrical cut. The main extra on the disc is recycled from the 1998 special edition, but boy is it worth to recycle. Stories Behind the Making of the Blues Brothers is an hour-long look at the making of the film, featuring vintage BTS footage and interviews along with modern (circa 1998) interviews with the cast and crew. Extremely well done and packed with interesting stories, its a must if you are a BB fan. Moving along the recycled path are two featurettes culled from the 2005 DVD. Transposing the Music (15 min.) features more interviews and does have a similar feel to the making-of documentary and more condensed but still worth a peek. Remembering John is a 10-minute look at the unfortunately short life and career of John Belushi. The films trailer finishes off the extras, and also includes the 25th anniversary DVD (Also includes all the extras as well, along with both cuts) and a digital copy.
So all in all, a fantastic film with a BluRay with great picture and great sound (Though a lossless track would've opened up the music more) and decent extras make this a must own for anyone fans of the stars, The Blues Brothers or comedies in general.
Remember, you're on a mission from God when you purchase the movie.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol [Blu-ray/DVD] [Included Digital Copy] [2011]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4947/4947863_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Blue is glue... Red is dead....
on June 9, 2016
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
After the third movie kind of underperformed at the box office in May 2006, I was quite shocked and, frankly, quite scared for the series. Though it had some of the best reviews of the entire series up to that point, has a ton of fans, great action and intrigue, it was mainly killed due to its star. I am not going to go into detail about his (seemingly) mid-life crisis on TV and tabloids and I am certainly not delving into his religious beliefs, I am going to say M:I:III was awesome and still holds up 10 years later as a superior action blockbuster.
Luckily, Cruise ventured into some interesting films between III and Ghost Protocol, found his footing again and prepared to take on Ethan Hunt once more.
An IMF agent is murdered in cold blood, while trying to smuggle out nuclear launch codes out of Budapest that would prevent all-out annihilation of the world. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise, as if you didn't know) is locked up in prison, but is freed by his cohorts Carter (Paula Patton) and MI3 holdover, Benji (Simon Pegg) to an amusing sequence set to "Ain't That a Kick to the Head", very reminiscent of Hudson Hawk, though way better.
Hunt is given the assignment to travel to Moscow, break into the Kremlin, apprehend known criminal only known as "Cobalt" and retrieve the stolen launch codes. The break-in is successful, but the codes are not there and someone over the IMF radio frequency detonates a bomb within the Kremlin, destroying it, and the world on the brink of nuclear war.
The IMF is disavowed, so Hunt and his cohorts and a new face, Brandt (Jeremy Renner), an analyst for the IMF, who is barely trusted by the team but must overcome their differences to save the world.... again.
So the plot is more of a tool rather than a foundation, and using this knowledge helps the movie succeed in every way possible. Director Brad Bird, making his live action debut, uses his tried and true talents and manages to make the second best M:I film of all time. Giving the film a huge dose of humor helps the enjoyment process, but also delivers amazing action set pieces (The sandstorm car chase, the climax of the film, and the true standout scene, The Burj Khalifa sequence) with amazing flair and style he is known for.
The cast are all excellent, with Cruise being a terrific action lead, Patton being an excellent foil to Hunt, Renner giving us a new character to possibly pass the torch after Cruise retires and is worthy of the mantle. The real standout is Pegg, giving us a funny performance that makes any regular Joe able to be in the feet of a rookie agent like Benji.
The villain, though is a weak point of the film. Lea Seydoux delivers a deliciously acidic performance as the henchwoman, and Michael Nyqvist also great as the main villain, but the villain is nothing new. Its like a less ridiculous Bond baddie, and isn't given too much to do (Remeber Dougray Scott from M:I-2? Me either...) unfortunately.
The screenplay is full of funny one-liners, action set pieces, and a decent story, but as I said earlier, its more of a tool rather than the foundation. The score by Michael Giacchino is appropriately action-y, but gives it jazz undertones (No techno or electronica, Thank God!) and the traditional signatures from Giacchino that stand out very well. The cinematography (Shot on 35mm and IMAX) is beautifully captured by Robert Elswit, the editing is top notch and has zero confusing quick edits typical of modern action fare, the CGI largely well-done and is all-around a big budgeted film with all the highlights therein.
Moving to the BluRay, the PQ/AQ is up first. The 2.35 film, being shot on 35mm film and on 65mm IMAX film, looks amazing in HD. The picture is sharp, colors are accurate and never dull (Unless needed), no ringing, no edge enhancement and is completely worthy for demo disc duty (Take note: the film doesn't switch to 1.78 during the IMAX scenes, nor are they included as extras, unfortunately). The AQ is no slouch either, with Paramount delivering a terrific and wall-rattling 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track. Gunshots, explosions, dialogue, car crashes, one-liners and everything audible is delivered to the max with some great surround elements and terrific use of LFE.
Moving on to the extras, which are located on disc 2 (Being the Best Buy exclusive), we start off with Mission Accepted: Suiting Up in Prague. This 18-minute chat with Bird, Cruise and other cast and crew members, deliver a nice chat about how the director was able to flex his style muscles, shooting in Prague and how it doubled for the Kremlin and much more. Mission Accepted: Heating Up in Dubai (18 minutes) talks about the city of Dubai, the challenges of shooting in and on the Burj Khalifa and also shooting in IMAX. Mission Accepted: Vancouver Fisticuffs is a 12-minute look at shooting in Canada on sound stages and the city itself, mainly looking at the finale that took six months to build the enormous set.
The next section is entitled Impossible Missions, consisting of 11 featurettes as follows:
- The Russian Prison is a 12-minute look at shooting the opening sequence, the scale of the scene and also chatting about Brad Bird's transition from animation to live-action.
- Shooting in Imax (4 min.) talks about IMAX
- Art Department (3 min.) is how the designers transformed Prague to Moscow with extreme detail.
- A Roll of Film (2 1/2 min.) talks about what happens to a roll of film after shooting.
- Life Masks (2-min.) is making plaster casts of the actors' faces for certain scenes.
- Stepping Into the Storm (2 min.) is test footage of the sandstorm sequence.
- Dubai Car Crash (8 min.) is a great look at the car chase sequence during a sandstorm, how the crew prepared for the stunts, having a stunt not go according to plan and successfully capturing the final moment on screen.
- Lens on the Burj (1 min.) is a brief look on the challenges of filming on the world's tallest building.
- Props is a 4 minute look at the gadgets, weaponry, and the mask making machine in slight detail.
- Composer (11 min.) is a look at Michael Giacchino and how he came up with the music to the film.
Deleted Scenes (15 min.) gives us deleted and alternate material all with an optional commentary with Brad Bird and finishing up the extras are two trailers for the film. A DVD and digital copy are also included as well.
All in all, this is a terrific film, worthy of any collector's shelf space and/or Mission: Impossible fans. The disc itself are stunning with some demo worthy picture and sound, and there is also a ton of extras here, but a commentary with Brad Bird and Tom Cruise would've been an excellent addition to the proceedings (Also, being the BBY exclusive, the regular edition only has 2 Mission Accepted featurettes, 2 of the Impossible Missions ones and the delted scenes with optional commentary) but overall, go and get it now!
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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![The Muppets [Blu-ray/DVD] [Collectible Case] [2011]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4602/4602982_sa.jpg)
Posted by: JakeInLivnColor
Verified Purchase:Yes
I bought this case from BBY because I am a huge fan of the Muppets and the new film didn't disappoint. The artwork was okay, but the steelbook is very strong and sturdy and withstand a ton of wear and tear.
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
My Best Buy number: 0751976050
I would recommend this to a friend!
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