blu-ray Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I haven't been a fan of Hollywood's "Let's Remake Everything That Was Ever Popular!" plan, but I was pleasantly surprised by the reboots and reincarnations of Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, and even J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek movie, which is out on Blu-ray and DVD today. I'd argue that maybe science fiction is immune to the remake syndrome, but then you have Michael Bay's two awful Transformers movies. So that sort of shoots my theory in the foot.

Whatever the case, it's been great to have so much quality science fiction to choose from lately. There's also a hell of a lot out there that deserves a second look. Forgotten series from the 60s and 70s that have classic storytelling, great characters, and a lot of elements that make up truly good sci-fi: robots, spaceships, and time travel. So while you're enjoying that slick new Trek Blu-ray (even the menus are amazing!) and waiting for James Cameron's Avatar to hit screens, here are some classic science fiction properties that need some new life.

Space: 1999

This was my first introduction to Martin Landau, and even now whenever I see him in something I keep expecting him to don a white tunic and take command of things. Landau co-starred in this with his then wife (and recent Mission: Impossible co-star) Barbara Bain. The series was set in the "far future" of 1999 via 1975, and revolves around the Moon getting knocked loose from orbit around the Earth. When it goes bye-bye, it takes with it the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha. So the Moon, in effect, becomes their U.S.S. Enterprise, and they have adventures around the galaxy. Highlights included the Eagle, a spaceship that looked like it was made out of scaffolding. My best friend had a model of this when we were kids, and it was highly coveted. There have been some attempts to revive it, even as a movie, but nothing has happened. Yet.

Click here for the disco-tastic opening credit sequence for Space: 1999, then head beyond the break for more sci-fi reboots we'd like to see..

As 2009 begins to come to a close and critics and pundits consider the movies that will ultimately make their Top Tens and Best Of lists, Up seems like a shoe-in for all of them. Effortlessly charming, deeply affecting and genuinely rousing, Pete Docter's follow-up to Monsters, Inc. is nothing short of spectacular. I'm especially reminded of this now that the film has arrived on Blu-ray, in no less than an epic four-disc set. But even as one of the best films of the year, is its home video iteration one of the best Blu-rays as well? Looking at the material contained (if also spread out) in this collection, I'm not so sure, even if everything on it nevertheless manages to make Up look like a masterpiece all over again.

Disc One features the film itself, two short features, and a modest but potent slate of extras. In terms of presentation, Up looks simply gorgeous, offering remarkable clarity and vividness no matter what's up on the screen, while the audio is muscular without being overwhelming. Meanwhile, the two shorts – "Partly Cloudy," which was attached to theatrical prints of Up, and the interstitial "Dug's Special Mission" – offer further adventures for viewers to check out once they've cried their eyes out watching the movie itself.

Additionally, the two featurettes, "The Many Endings of Muntz" and "Adventure is Out There," showcase specific aspects of the creative process that will probably be of most interest or importance to viewers: the first examines the way the filmmakers came up with the "villain"'s comeuppance, and what other options were available; and the second follows the creators as they journey to South America to visit the real-life tepui mountains that gave them inspiration when conceiving the film's picturesque vistas.

These days it's common practice for filmmakers to document every single aspect of a movie's creation for its eventual home video release – examining previsualization, creature development, fight choreography, set and costume design, effects rendering, and so on. When you're making a comedy, however, there seems to be less of interest in the different aspects of production (not the least of which because many of those above aren't even a factor), leaving only outtakes, gaffes, and alternate line readings to fill out the bonus features for a forthcoming Blu-ray or DVD.

Judd Apatow's Blu-ray for Funny People, however, runs contrary to expectations; indeed, it's by far the most complete and comprehensive portrait of a comedy production ever assembled. Featuring not only the requisite slate of alternate takes, film flubs, and extra scenes, but two different versions of the film, multiple featurettes, archive footage, and a feature-length documentary about the film's origins, development and production, the two-disc set takes the art of being funny very seriously.

The 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray and DVD of Say Anything came out yesterday, and to mark the occasion, numerous men with lots of free time dressed up in trench coats and hoisted boomboxes above their heads and marched throughout New York City serenading people with the strains of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," and a cover version of the same song by The Lloyd Dobler Effect. Check them out in the gallery below.

Damn, that movie came out 20 years ago? That makes me feel incredibly old. The first time I saw that movie will be forever burned into my brain since it was my first and only date with the captain of the women's volleyball team in high school. However, the movie on Blu-ray looks better than it ever did back in theaters, circa 1989, and hopefully it'll inspire legions of Lloyd Dobler fans for years to come that will fare better than I did.

The Blu-ray version of the movie is a 1080p high-definition upgrade of the original DVD release from 2002, along with a newly remastered 5.1 audio mix. In addition to the upgraded image and sound, this includes all the features from the previous version (commentary from Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Ione Skye, deleted scenes, and more), along with three new featurettes. The best of the bunch is "An Iconic Film Revisited: Say Anything... 20 Years Later" featuring new interviews with Crowe, Cusack, Skye, John Mahoney, and Nancy Wilson.

The great opportunity with new presentation formats for established forms of entertainment is that newcomers can be introduced and experience them for the very first time; the burden with them is that longtime fans have to forage through multiple editions and decide which one is best. Enter "Making The (Up) Grade," Cinematical's examination of these new, alternate, special editions of films that have long since become favorites. This week's selection, Easy Rider, is one of those cases where people may or may not have purchased the film before, but because it's been so thoroughly discussed and dissected in cinematic culture for the past forty years, it seems almost a redundant choice for any person who considers him- or herself a cinephile.

Is this new 40th Anniversary Blu-ray really better? Let's take a look and see.

If you're a fan of the irreplaceable and wonderful Mel Brooks, chances are you've already got The Mel Brooks Collection -- a DVD box jam-packed with most of the directors classic films. I already double-dipped to get them all in one spot, in space-saving super-slim cases, but now there's a collection worthy of a double or triple dip. And -- darn you all! -- yet another reason to get a Blu-ray player.

As DVD Snapshot shares, there's a new The Mel Brooks Collection on the way, and this time in glorious Blu-ray. But it's not just the old collection in high definition. It's the same roster +1 -- the film that was surprisingly lacking from the first release -- Spaceballs. That means, vacuum cleaner intergalactic hijinx along with Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, The Twelve Chairs, and the wonderful Young Frankenstein. On top of all that, there's a collectible book in the mix.

The bad side: DVD fanatics probably won't like the slide-in packaging, and it's not full of extras. The plus side: It's now available for ordering on Amazon for only $89.49. That's a $50 savings from the list price, and only $20 more than what the current DVD collection is priced at.

Can you resist Brooks in Blu?

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has become something of a calling card for my writing in 2009, and an albatross around my neck at the same time. There's little else I wrote this year that got as much attention, and yet it's by far the most misunderstood of my many, many reviews, primarily because one sentence published on Rotten Tomatoes, and later, literally one word used in the its advertising was employed to characterize my feelings about the film. Mind you, I'm not complaining, but it's made for a sort of fascinating study among my friends and colleagues, some of whom took me at those words and those words alone, while others read the actual review I posted here on Cinematical, and for better or for worse, agree or disagree, at least understood where I was coming from.

This week, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen arrives on Blu-ray, and in the interest of thoroughness, I decided to revisit the film to see (a) how I personally felt about the film a second time, and (b) if any of the objections of its critics were explained, justified or otherwise corrected in the bonus materials. After perusing the content on both discs of the Collector's Edition Blu-ray, I'm unsure whether or not its detractors will be any more appreciative of its artistic merits; but watching it again on the small screen and augmented by the thoughts and comments of the folks responsible for the film, I at least feel as if I know where the sources of some of those problems lie.

I remember strolling through my local Blockbuster 10 years ago, sure that they couldn't switch to 100% DVDs in a few years. The idea seemed ridiculously optimistic. But in the blink of an eye, DVD took over and we barely had time to wave goodbye to shelves of VHS tapes. It also set some ridiculously high expectations for electronic improvement. Now, a few years later, as The Wrap states: "Blu-ray was supposed to be the format that saved studio home entertainment." Problem is, it isn't.

It's been a good three years, and the format is only cooking up 6% of home entertainment sales (compared to DVD's revenue of 20% back in 2000). Most people are still buying DVDs, and renting, the latter of which doesn't help studios a whole heck of a lot, illustrating "continuing problems for the major studios, which have convulsed amid the lack of DVD revenue growth in recent years." The blame game zeroes in on low-price rental services and used disc sales, while noting Blu-ray's failure to become an essential piece of home entertainment. This is resulting in severe price slashing that will include Blu-ray players under $100 this holiday season.

If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spin-offs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalog. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.

As such, welcome to the second installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) blu-ray releases with their previous home-video iterations. This week, we're taking a look at Snow White, which Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing in a three-disc Diamond Edition.

If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spinoffs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option of which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalogue. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.

As such, we're launching the first installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) Blu-ray releases. And with Warner Brothers' deluxe reissue of The Wizard of Oz arriving in stores this week, it seemed like a good place to start to let readers (and eventually, consumers) determine with a little more specificity what you will be buying (or not buying) if you trade in an older edition for a newer one. To wit: