Editorial - Warner Home Video and the Ever Changing Logos

As another of these topics that sit in the wastelands of my head waiting to bear fruit and escape to a place beyond that vermin on machines, this editorial is not aimed at the studio in question, but a particular trend of theirs.

Which is replacing their older logos with the newer one; I know what you’re thinking straight away: “why is it such a big deal?” well I’ll tell you why punk, it’s a practice I find totally despicable as well as condescending and insulting to younger film fans like myself who were not even born when some of these films were made.

And there are two examples I would like to use for this editorial: Mad Max 2 and Christmas Vacation, now Mad Max 2 the DVD version opened with the original logo the studio used at that time but specially modified to fit within the prologue of the film which was in 4:3 window box before opening the film to widescreen, for the Blu-Ray restoration, this logo was replaced with the modern day logo used by the studio and already in widescreen, which in my eyes, broke the illusion and feel that director George Miller wanted to create with the opening of the film.

The next example: Christmas Vacation, once the still frame Warner Communications logo came up, the song started almost immediately after it, again it creates a mood and feel intended by the filmmakers but once again, a modern day logo takes it place and like in Mad Max 2, the mood and feel is broken because of it.

Now this won’t be all that bad as the recently released Dirty Harry collection is said to contain the original logos from the time of their release, as I only own the original Dirty Harry which does contain the original logo, I sincerely hope that it’s a step in the right direction for the studio.

In closing, this is not an attack on Warner Home Video itself, as the company has produced some great releases for its vintage films, its just one practice of theirs that I find very insulting to younger film fans like myself and also breaks a mood and feel that the filmmakers have in mind, hopefully starting with the Dirty Harry collection, this trend will see its way out but as a wise man once said: Only time will tell.

DVD News - The Dark Knight

Hi everyone.

In some VERY cool news, both DVDTimes.co.uk and DVDactive.com have announced the DVD and Blu-Ray editions of the Dark Knight for release on December 9th.

Australian stores should get it around that time but if you want to know more please go to the following sites listed above, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Edit: The DVD and Blu-Ray editions will be released in Australia on December 10th.

Film Review - Speed (1994)

Speed stars Keanu Reeves and Jeff Daniels as a pair of SWAT police officers who find themselves put to the ultimate test when a bomber played by Dennis Hopper hijacks a bus with a bomb that if it goes below 50 miles an hour, it explodes and now the chase begins to stop it.

Which is also the problem I had with the film, its pretty much a non stop chase movie that combines elements from both Die Hard and Mad Max 2, which I consider the two finest action movies ever made, here its all just action and thrills and chases which become all too familiar and repetitive, but I didn’t hate this movie altogether as there were some good performances but even they couldn’t lift what I thought was another run of the mill action film that goes non stop and has no plot to base itself on.

In short, this deserves a 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Highlander (1986)

Highlander stars Christopher Lambert as Connor Macleod, born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnen in Scotland, he is later cast out after becoming an Immortal and has since wandered through the centuries until 1985 New York City, when another known as the Kurgen (Clancy Brown) and others have come for an event called the Gathering, where in the end, there will be only one.

I really loved Highlander, and the heart and soul of the film is Lambert, who does a great job portraying Connor as a man who is literally world weary, having seen it all with his own eyes and lost his love at the same time, Brown is no slouch as Kurgen and neither is Sean Connery as Ramirez and Roxanne Hart as Brenda, one must also mention the great songs by Queen and the script that actually has the balls to wrap everything up this time around.

4 and a half for Highlander.

Film Review - Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as college students thrown out over their experiments that decide to become paranormal pest exterminators called “Ghostbusters”, but after their exploits make them a success, they have to deal with a more powerful ghost, one that could bring about the apocalypse.

Ghostbusters serves as almost a model for how comedies of this type should be made, on one hand the three leads as well as Ernie Hudson are very funny bouncing off each other as well as a fun chemistry between Murray and Sigourney Weaver and on the other, the film contains some great scenes of fear as well as some terrific special effects work done by Richard Edlund.

In closing, this is great fun and deserves a 4 out of 5.

Blu-Ray Review - Die Hard (1988)

The Movie:

Die Hard stars Bruce Willis as NYPD officer John McClane who has come to visit his estranged family for Christmas in LA, but before he does that he will have to save his wife and the other workers from a team of terrorists who have seized control of the office building where she works.

Die Hard is nothing short of a true classic and for my money the best action film after Mad Max 2, Willis is on top form and Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber is also just delightful, director John McTiernan brilliantly uses the Fox Plaza and the surroundings of it to give the film a real world feel, the music by Michael Kamen and the effects by Richard Edlund are also superior here: 5 out of 5.

The Blu-Ray:

Sadly, as great as this movie is, the Blu-ray does not do it justice, don’t get me wrong the sound is very good and also very loud but the visuals at times look a little too soft and as with the Blu-Ray of Mad Max 2, doesn’t quite immerse you into the film the way that the DVD version does.

The menu design also is a little clunky with no top menu and only a pop up menu that comes up during the film and returns to it after the extras you select have played, another big letdown is that only a handful of extras from the brilliant 2-disc version on DVD have been ported over, below is a full list of the extras from that version.

Audio Commentary by Director John McTiernan and Production Designer Jackson DeGovia
Scene-Specific Commentary by Special Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund
Text Commentary by Various Cast and Crew Members and Film Historian Eric Licthenfeld
From The Vault:
- Outtakes
---- "The Vault" (2 Audio Options) (6:12)
---- "Turning Off The Power" (3:23)
- 'The Newscasts' (7:58)
- 2 Magazine Articles
The Cutting Room:
- Scene Editing Workshop
- Multi-Camera Shooting
---- Scene R165G (0:24)
---- Scene 167 (1:08)
---- Scene 167A (0:42)
- Audio Mixing
- "Why Letterbox?" featurette (3:22)
- Glossary
Interactive Slide Show (9:26)
The Script
Ad Campaign:
- 3 Theatrical Trailers
- 7 TV Spots (3:37, Note: These are absent on the Australian version of this release)
- 'Making-Of' featurette (7:22)

Here are ones that have been ported over:

Audio Commentary by Director John McTiernan and Production Designer Jackson DeGovia
Scene-Specific Commentary by Special Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund
The Newscasts
Interactive Slide Show
3 Theatrical Trailers
7 TV Spots

And now, the ones that are sadly missing:

Text Commentary by Various Cast and Crew Members and Film Historian Eric Licthenfeld
From The Vault:
- Outtakes
---- "The Vault" (2 Audio Options) (6:12)
---- "Turning Off The Power" (3:23)
- 2 Magazine Articles
The Cutting Room:
- Scene Editing Workshop
- Multi-Camera Shooting
---- Scene R165G (0:24)
---- Scene 167 (1:08)
---- Scene 167A (0:42)
- Audio Mixing
- "Why Letterbox?" featurette (3:22)
- Glossary
'Making-Of' featurette (7:22)

As you can see, this is a little disappointing, especially considering that Blu-Ray could have held all of this stuff no problems but sadly again, Fox will withhold this stuff for a new Blu-Ray edition that has everything from the double disc DVD and essentially pull the same shit they pulled with DVD, pure Fucking Marvelous.

Overall:

Die Hard is a 5 star classic film in every sense of the word but the Blu-Ray edition does very little right and hell of a lot wrong and I can’t help but feel that a better version will come out with everything intact and the disc itself is also just not that great an improvement on the 2-disc DVD version, my advise is too hang on to that and skip this unless you simply have to have it no questions asked.

Blu-Ray Review: Mad Max 2 (1981)

The Movie:

Mad Max 2 or The Road Warrior as its known to US film fans is the second in the Mad Max series and sees the return of Mel Gibson in the title role and in a new environment: the Wastelands of tomorrow and in this he has to help a group of strangers in charge of an oil refinery escape to the coast with their prize and fend off the marauders who lurk in the darkness.

Mad Max 2 is the type of sequel I alluded to in my editorial regarding sequels, which is that whilst its as good as the original film that came before it, it also needs the first film to properly work and the viewer to have seen it but apart from that the movie is also a masterpiece of action cinema with director George Miller setting a bar only Christopher Nolan, James Cameron and John McTiernan have managed to step up too with some of their action pictures: 5 out of 5.

The Blu-Ray:

Mad Max 2 has now been issued on the new Blu-Ray format and I’m pleased to report that for the most part, the film excels its clear that it has undergone a brand new restoration and it looks great and really shows the unmistakable outback where the film was shot (Broken Hill, NSW for those who are wondering).

The audio is sadly not as good as the video for while it sounds clearer, it doesn’t bring you into the environment of the film as a DVD mix does and with a film like this which relies so much on the sound, it’s a bit disappointing.

One last thing I want to bring up is that while the disc correctly gives us the Australian version of the film, it changes the Warner Brothers logo to a modern day one in widescreen instead of the original logo from the film’s original release which was modified to fit in the opening, I know this is nitpicking but I really hate this practice and want it to end, the same thing happened on Christmas Vacation and its no better here.

The Extras:

Audio Commentary by Director/Co-Writer George Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler: This is a wonderful track that fans will find delightful, its clear from the first go that the two are old friends and are having a blast reminiscing about the film, possibly the best commentary track I’ve heard since John Carpenter and Kurt Russell’s track for Big Trouble in Little China.

Introduction by Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin: Maltin provides a nice intro that older fans may not enjoy so much but younger fans like myself will find very appealing.

Theatrical Trailer: This is the US Trailer for the film and focuses on the chases and stunts instead of the plot, a nice change and sets the mood very well also, a huge thumbs up to Warner’s for including this.

Overall:

While this Blu-Ray of Mad Max 2 is very nice, to me it just feels like a step in the right direction towards a legitimate special edition of the film with the original logo intact as well the extras presented here and a new making of documentary plus the vintage featurette that's been seen elsewhere, but this feels good so I say get it as it’s the next best thing.