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China Beach (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)China Beach well deserves to be released as are so many lesser series on DVD by the season or a Box set including all the episodes. It was a shame it didn't run longer at the time and I don't know what killed it. I remember it had good ratings and a good fan following. China Beach was a wonderful drama that ran from 1988 through 1991. It was about an American base hospital in Vietnam located near China Beach. The beach itself was used for recreation by recooperating wounded soldiers and those on leave from combat. The beach itself offered a stark contrast to the pain and suffering in the hospital on base. It also offered some nice backgrounds for romantic scenes for the nurses and a chance to get some of them occasionally into shorts or bathing suits. However do not think it was some mindless beach movie! This series was a drama that showed the the lives and efforts of doctors and nurses working in a hospital in Vietnam. Unlike Mash that came before it, this was serious drama about the wounded soldiers coming through the hospital and the doctors, but mostly the nurses that took care of the wounded and sometimes dying. With some soldiers horribly wounded and suddenly dealing with the loss of limbs, eyes, and other life changing injuries there is plenty of drama to keep you interested. Also some of the nurses of course end up dating soldiers in the field. Like the real Vietnam the cast had many actresses and actors killed or returned to USA and some new cast members joined just in it's three seasons. The show itself was a showcase for the talents particularly of Dana Delaney playing Colleen McMurphy one of the nurses. She was outstanding and my favorite. She later on went on to do some Movies such as Wyatt Earp's love affair in the movie Tombstone, and a sexy role in Exit to Eden a good comedy. She also was in Fly Away Home, Moon Over Paradore (comedy), and House sitter. She is one of those women who is beautiful and exciting yet at the same time not so stunning that she doesn't seem real or obtainable. She is an earthy redhead you could easily meet and hope to marry. Yet this woman has an undercurrent of sexiness as seen more in a couple of her Movies that men only dream of. I guess it boils down to a real person not so out of reach, but yet facinating.
The other star of this piece was Robert Picardo who went on to have a long stretch as the holographic doctor in Start Trek's Voyager series and on some Star trek Movies as well. lesser known but great in the series were Nan Woods as Cherry White, Chloe Webb as Laurette Barber and a slew of others. It was very well done show with a cast of attractive yet real looking people. It tied in well with the TV series run of Tour of Duty another series on Vietnam soldiers.

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Dances with Wolves (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)When Dances With Wolves first came out, I had some doubts about seeing it. All of my life I had seen movies that either presented my tribe (the "Sioux" or more accurately the "Lakota") as a bunch of savages, or used non-Native American actors to portray "Indian" roles. The book, Dances with Wolves was dumb (they were Comanches???). The movie surprised me. If it hadn't been for Kevin Costner's acting, I would give this five stars. He did a great job of directing the movie, but he came across as a total idiot in the movie ( in my opinion). What I liked most about the film was the accuracy, and use of the language (which was my first tongue), as well as the Native American cast. The extended version is even better, filling in a few gaps, and expanding on a few scenes that needed it. Overall, a very good movie; I can't count how many times I have seen it.

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UC Gundam Movie Pack (The Movie Trilogy/Char's Counterattack/Miller's Report) (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a huge fan of Gundam, watched (still watching) almost all UC-Gundam series (0079, 0080, 0083, MS 08 team, Z, ZZ, Nu, F91). This DVD pack is a blessing to me, having most major movie versions. The picture quality is nice, they did a great job. The only thing: I wish Miller's report had been replaced with 0083 movie, for MS 08 team is kind of 'side story' and the storyline is a little different from the others. But still this is the best DVD pack I ever bought. Second the only thing: there is no English audio track in 3 0079's. Japanese audio+English subtitle.
News: another UC gundam is being released soon. Go youtube and find 'Unicorn Gundam' promotion clips. The mecha designs and storyline seem authentic UC Gundam's.

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Tombstone Review

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(More customer reviews)1993 and it was the battle between two films based on the iconic western figure Wyatt Earp. Screenwriter Kevin Jarre ("The Mummy", "Glory", "Rambo: First Blood Part II") and Kevin Costner were originally set to make the film together but due to a disagreement, Costner would go on to film "Wyatt Earp" while Kevin Jarre would take his script to Buena Vista for distribution and sure enough, it became a contest of sorts as who would get their movie out first and which one would dominate in the box office.
Fortunately, despite numerous problems on the set of "Tombstone", if there is one thing that the film had was its all-star cast as Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestly, Dana Delany, Thomas Haden Church, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Rooker, Terry O'Quinn and many more.
Directing the film would be George P. Cosmatos ("Rambo: First Blood Part II", "Leviathan", "Shadow Conspiracy"), cinematography by William A. Fraker ("Rules of Engagement", "Father of the Bride Part II", "Street Fighter") and music by Bruce Broughton ("Lost in Space", "Bambi II", "Tiny Toon Adventures").
In the end, "Tombstone"earned $56 million domestically and did much better than Costner's "Wyatt Earp" in the box office.
VIDEO:
"Tombstone" is presented in 1080 High Definition (2:35:1). For the most part, the good news is that "Tombstone" looks very good on Blu-ray. The cinematography by William A. Fraker is absolutely beautiful during some of the scenic shots overlooking the fields, the skyline, dusk and dawn. While many parts of the film showcases many colors and for the most part, detail of the town, the saloon, the skin pores, etc. look great on Blu-ray, I noticed that the scenes look a bit dark at times. I haven't had the chance to compare with the original DVD release of "Tombstone" but there are times that seem as if shots were taken during overcast or the shadows of the hats are covering the faces of people.
But despite the dark look of some scenes, "Tombstone" definitely looks sharper and more contrast is seen on the Blu-ray release and blacks are nice and deep. Only one scene which was stock video where you a bit of aliasing but for the most part, I didn't detect any major artifacts or blemishes.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Tombstone" is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (48 kHz/24-bit), French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Audio dialogue is quite clear and for the most part, the majority of the film is dialogue driven until you get into short action scenes at the O.K. Corral and the final half hour in which the film starts to have more action-based scenes. But one of the things that you will notice is the use of the surrounds in terms of capturing the ambiance of the outdoor scenes. I was watching when Wyatt and Josie were horseriding and are taking a break and all of a sudden I started hearing birds chirping and rustling the trees. I thought that was pretty cool. Also, you will hear the thunderstorms come to life and of course, the gun battle sequences in which you hear rifle shots, gun shots and more. Overall, "Tombstone" sounds very good via lossless.
Subtitles are in English SDH, English ESL, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Tombstone" comes with the following special features in 480i, English 2.0 Dolby Digital audio and subtitles in English SDH, French and Spanish. Included are:
* The Making of Tombstone - (27:19) This featurette goes into the cast of Tombstone as they talk about their characters and filming a Western. Director George P. Cosmatos talking about making an authentic Western and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
* Director's Original Storyboards - (4:00) A special feature showcasing the original storyboards of Director George P. Cosmatos.
* Trailers and TV Spots - Featuring two theatrical trailers (:60 and :120) and the "Friends" TV spot (:30).
JUDGMENT CALL:
"Tombstone" is an enjoyable film and for those who enjoy Westerns and for those who like the stories of lawmen vs. the outlaws, the film is quite entertaining and a storyline in which both Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer actually do a remarkable job. Russell as the Wyatt Earp, the caring brother and also not afraid of anyone! And Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday at his most charming and also his most vulnerable and how Kilmer plays off the sickly version of Holliday is really well-done.
But what I did enjoy about "Tombstone" when I first watched it over a decade ago, was how it tried to capture the life of Wyatt Earp and led to the "Gunfight of O.K. Corral" and "Wyatt Earp and the Immortals". Granted, the film is not exactly historically accurate and the adaptation would be of what took place had to receive the Hollywood touch but for the most part, it did capture many of the stories that took place especially with Virgil Earp becoming a marshal, some of the battles that took place and more.
If there was one thing that I was hoping for, it would be a more climactic battle between Wyatt and Curly Bill Brocius. With Brocius being the leader of the Cowboys, I felt that the battle between both men was rather short. Also, there were some scenes of certain characters that felt out of place and this goes with the troubled production as the original screenplay was longer and had a story emphasizing sub-plots of the various characters but was nixed. The fact that "Tombstone" has quite a bit of starpower, I just felt that certain characters were never utilized and if they were, what was the purpose. For example, why was Deputy Billy Breckinridge (played by Jason Priestly) even shown and also, with no historical fact towards his sexuality, why was she shown to have gay tendencies? Also, the character of Sherman McMasters (played by Michael Rooker), just an added scene showing why he broke off with the Cowboys would have been nice to see as well.
As for the Blu-ray, the film definitely looks and sounds better than its predecessor. It's important to note that the Blu-ray version features the 130-minute version and not the 135-minute director's cut version of "Tombstone". Missing is the audio commentary by director George P. Cosmatos and also "The Tombstone Epitaph - Actual Newspaper Account" featured in the Director's Cut Televista DVD version. But the making-of featurette, director's original storyboards and trailers remain intact. But you can't help but be pleased with this Blu-ray release.
Overall, "Tombstone" was an enjoyable Western that I have seen a good number of times. Does it rank high compared to the best Western's out there? Definitely not but in my opinion, it's the best Wyatt Earp film that I have seen yet and it's a film that I just found enjoyable from beginning to end. Definitely recommended!

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Strategic Air Command (1955) Review

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(More customer reviews)For many of us, the cold war now seems impossibly far away. However, for those of us whose fathers were in the military during the peak of the war, the concern was always that we could be attacked at any time by the Soviet Union.
Our first line of defense, before our missiles became more accurate, was huge bombers. When these huge aircraft flew, their power and size seemed awe-inspiring. Looking back at this movie, the B-36 now seems ungainly and incredibly complex. The B-47 seems less ungainly, but technology has clearly superceded both these aircraft.
This movie comes across as a recruiting film for the Air Force, and to a certain extent a patriotic film justifying our strategic air forces. The plot is relatively simple, and trying to spice it up with a sub-story regarding Jimmy Stewart's career as a baseball player and his relationship with his wife becomes a distraction. The focus of this movie is flying big bombers.
What gloriously complex aircraft these were. The scenes showing the takeoff of the B-36 were incredible. For airplane enthusiasts, the portion of the film focusing on the reading of the checklist is unusual (because for most people it would seem boring) and unique. Watching how the plane is powered up is nearly worth the exercise of watching the film.
Later we get to watch as the B-47 is transitioned into the active military. We watch as the B-47 is flown in poor weather conditions, and watch the fatigue and boredom set in as the crews flew incredibly lengthy missions.
Some of the most interesting and now somewhat anachronistic parts of the movies are those portions dealing with the functioning of Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases. These bases were very highly protected, and exercises were continuously run to assure that saboteurs or an enemy invading force would be repelled by base security forces. During their period of duty, crews were either in the air or standing by on alert, ready to jump in their plane and be airborne in less than 15 minutes. I remember well an exercise called a "total recall" where every member of the base is called to duty to be prepared for a possible enemy attack.
While the parts of the movie dealing with Jimmy Stewart the baseball player and husband are relative distractions, they do point out the sacrifice that many people made to be in the military at that time. Military aircraft were huge and complex, and tended to break down a lot. The missions were incredibly long, and the flight systems relatively crude, requiring fatiguing concentration. For all the hardship of flying, the pay was low, and often the working conditions including the noise and cold (military aircraft are generally not well-insulated - note how the flight crew is dressed; it was cold up there) were uncomfortable to say the least.
This movie is a rarity that is close to being a historical artifact. While some of the operational details are simplified, in general the scenes depicted are relatively accurate. Further, the scenes with the aircraft are rare and detailed. Forget the plot of this movie; it's about the airplanes, Jimmy Stewart's love of flying and a time that was not so far away.

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The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Editions) Review

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(More customer reviews)If more of us sign up to be notified on the upcoming extended edition release and if we do not 'pre-order' the theatrical edition then the extended edition will be released sooner (this year?) rather than later - it's my theory only but it doesn't hurt trying.
I am very happy that LoTR is finally coming to Blu. We read the book and then we read it again before we knew that a movie was in the making, we watched the movies in theaters, patiently waiting for each subsequent installment to be released, we bought the EXTENDED editions on DVD, one at a time, we had the strength to skip over the theatrical DVD releases.
We are going to skip over the theatrical Blu releases as well and we will be patiently waiting for the EXTENDED edition.
And, no, I'm not going to write that "I can't wait" for the full LoTR to be released on Blu. The truth is that, after all these years, I CAN wait :) and I am looking forward for what I am confident is going to be a stunning, incredible, out-of-this-world-beautiful extended LoTR release.
[Just wondering: how technically difficult it would be to release the extended edition with an option to watch the theatrical version only if so desired by simply skipping the extended cuts?]
While waiting for the extended edition, it's time to think of what may follow. The OVER-EXTENDED edition? :)
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Note (June 19, 2009):
I just noticed the 'product alert' stating that this item is likely to be released sometime in 2011-2012. While not 'happy' for having to wait for a while longer, I can't think of a good reason to buy the Theatrical version. To me, the Extended edition is the forbidden fruit. I am not likely to watch the abbreviated version in no matter what format for as long as the Extended editions are available.
Hopefully, Mr. Jackson is going to use the extra time to further enhance and maybe add to what is already a stunning work.

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Assisted by a Fellowship of heroes, Frodo Baggins plunges into a perilous trek to take the mystical One Ring to Mount Doom so that it and its magical powers can be destroyed and never possessed by evil Lord Sauron. The astonishing journey begins in the first film of director/co-writer Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy that redefined fantasy filmmaking. This imaginative foray into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth won 4 Academy Awards®* and earned 13 total nominations including Best Picture.Frodo and Samwise press on toward Mordor. Gollum insists on being the guide. Can anyone so corrupted by the ring be trusted? Can Frodo, increasingly under the sway of the ring, even trust himself? Meanwhile, Aragorn, drawing closer to his kingly destiny, rallies forces of good for the battles that must come. Director Peter Jackson delivers an amazing second movie that won 2 Academy Awards®* and 6 total nominations including Best Picture. The journey continues. So do the astonishing spectacle and splendor.It is time. For Frodo to overcome the wickedness of Gollum, the horrifying attack of the colossal arachnid Shelob and the soul-twisting allure of a ring that resists destruction. For Aragorn to take up the sword of his forebears and the crown of his birthright. For the mighty clash that wizard Gandalf calls “the great battle of our time." And for the inspired culmination of the films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary classic. For the third time, a Rings movie was a Best Picture Academy Award® nominee and for the first time it claimed that prize (plus 10 more).* The King deserves its crown.

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Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is perhaps one of the better known exploitation films made in the last thirty years. The picture, directed by Don Edmonds and starring Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, is also one of the most disturbing. Oddly enough, I found this movie even more sickening the second time around. The first time I watched Ilsa do her stuff was on an old VHS tape about five years ago, and I didn't think the film was as horrific as many viewers made it out to be. Usually, the disgust factor works the other way around: the first viewing is the worst with the shock value wearing away on subsequent viewings. I should probably question the value of even watching "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" more than once, but I wanted to see what the picture looked like with a snappy new transfer to DVD. Moreover, I wanted to listen to the commentary track with Edmonds, Thorne, and producer David Friedman of "Blood Feast" fame (billed here as Herman Traeger). I wasn't disappointed; the picture quality of "Ilsa" is stunning for such a low budget piece of trash. The commentary track too makes this disc a must have for lovers of schlock cinema. Just don't pop this one in the DVD player when the relatives show up or as a substitute for taking your gal out on the town.
Set in the waning days of the Second World War, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" takes place in a special medical camp where the brutal camp commander Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) and her busty minions wreak havoc on a bevy of female prisoners. There are a few guys around too, mostly to act as boy toys for Ilsa's ravenous appetites. Ilsa's supposed to be conducting experiments on helpless prisoners that will benefit the German military effort, but she's got quite the disturbing side project going on as well. According to the She-Wolf, women possess certain biological characteristics that make them more resistant to pain then men. You can almost guess what happens next. Ilsa sets aside a hidden little laboratory in the basement of her office to test out her personal theories while the approved experiments take place in another building. Both sets of trials are excruciating to watch. The Germans test the effects of high pressure, boiling temperatures, and diseases on the female inmates of the prison. Down in the basement, Ilsa and her two blonde goons strip down to the waist in order to administer severe beatings to selected troublemakers. There's a lot more I could detail, but believe it or not these are the least offensive scenes in the movie. "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is sick, sick stuff.
A sort of hope fills the prisoners' hearts when Wolfe (George Knoph) enters the camp. The new inmate has a "special ability" that allows him to find a way into the frosty heart of the buxom camp commander. Behind the scenes, the prisoners plot to escape from the prison any way they can. It won't be easy, not when one faces Ilsa, her she-wolfettes, her male assistant, a pack of sadistic guards, and machine gun towers. In the meantime, the degradations continue unabated. Ilsa whips up a few special treats for a visiting general (Wolfgang Roehm) that truly turn the stomach as Wolfe, Mario (Tony Mumolo), and Kala (Nicolle Riddell) carefully map out there plan. Will the prisoners escape? Will Ilsa and her handmaidens receive their just desserts? Will the Allies arrive at the camp before everyone perishes at the hands of the Germans? Will tough chick Anna (Maria Marx) withstand Ilsa's experiments and thus prove the commander's theory? Will you be able to keep your lunch down during the hour and a half it takes to watch the movie? These questions, and many others, will find resolution by the time the final credits roll.
What won't find resolution is your utter disgust with the film. A gallon of mouthwash won't remove the bad taste this movie leaves behind in your mouth. I found myself inadvertently comparing Edmond's picture with "Schindler's List," another film dealing with German atrocities during the Second World War. Truth be told, "List" is much more harrowing in its depictions of the concentration camps and the horrible living conditions of those people enslaved by the Germans. What sets "Ilsa" apart, what makes it even worse than "Schindler's List," is that it's all done for cheap, value neutral kicks. Why else play up endless scenes of nudity in a movie about war crimes? Despite Thorne's amazingly campy performance, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is a ghastly film that should repulse more than it exhilarates. Even more disturbing is the admission on the commentary track that the movie sets come from the television show "Hogan's Heroes." You won't see LeBeau, Carter, Sergeant Schultz, or Colonel Klink in this movie! If you find anything remotely exhilarating about this picture, you've been falling behind on your electroshock therapy treatments again.
Dyanne Thorne does pull off her role with ease, coming across as a heartless, cold monster without an ounce of remorse in her bones. It's quite the contrast to listen to the commentary track and realize the actress seems like an intelligent, sunny personality with a good sense of humor. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view), the commentary track, a trailer, and a few biographies are the only extras on the disc. If you feel up to it, after you watch Ilsa ham it up as a German camp commander, you can watch her in three other films reprising the character-with slight modifications-in the Middle East and in Siberia. These are classic movies, for sure, but they're upsetting ones as well.

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The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete Movie Collection Review

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(More customer reviews)I love the first three Indy films. Like so many others I was greatly looking forward to seeing a new one. I thought (or hoped) that the very long time they took to come up with a script meant they were polishing it to a brilliant shine. After seeing the movie, I conclude it was really a long negotiation between Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford, with some of them eager to make a crappy movie, and some of them not, with the end result being crappy, but perhaps not as crappy as it might have been.
The movie started with a bit of promise (other than the infantile CGI prairie dog). I'm not as offended by the nuclear fridge scene as many are, because I know those mock towns weren't built at Ground Zero (or they would have been vaporized). They were built at a distance to judge the effect of the blast on places some miles from the explosion. So while it's not credible for Indy to survive being tossed around that much, he didn't exactly survive a nuclear explosion. Some of the other early scenes, such as those where Indy is actually discovering something, are also good.
Still...
About halfway through the movie, despite my fervent desire to like it, I realized it just wasn't working for me. No suspense. No real sense of urgency or danger. Low stakes. Too many marginal or pointless characters. Too much cartoon nonsense going on, far less believable than anything from the previous films (the stupid monkey vine swinging, Marian's idiotic tree-driving stunt, the multiple waterfall drops...none of it scary, none of it remotely convincing, or even fun). Marian's long-awaited big reveal was one of the biggest, flattest duds in film history. She shows up and spends most of the rest of the movie just tagging along with a dazed grin on her face like she was just grateful to be there, a flaccid dishrag compared to the character from the first film. Not Karen Allen's fault...she was just thrown in for nostalgia's sake, and was poorly written. Mutt was actually not a bad character, but I don't need or want him to be Indy's son. Is there any worse cliche in fiction than the Son He Never Knew He Had? I realize Spielberg and Lucas are fascinated by father issues, but I'm not. And then there's the whole point of the movie...the skull and the aliens...ehhhh. Who cares? The finale was a muddled jumble of flashing lights and wind that meant nothing and evoked nothing but tedium. Remember at the end of the previous films, where the characters actually seem to notice that something extraordinary has happened, were even scared, or traumatized just a little bit (okay, not so much in Crusade, where they quickly shake off any aftereffects and devolve into slapstick and lose all interest in their surroundings). Not this time. The giant flying saucer takes off, and Indy and his massive crew of sidekicks start cracking jokes.
I'm inclined to blame Lucas for most of this mess. He's made a habit of lapses of taste and judgement since...hmm..."Howard the Duck"?
I don't want to see this movie again, and I don't want to own it. I hope they don't make another, because these guys have proven they no longer have what it takes.

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Item Name: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]; Studio:Paramount

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Santa vs. the Snowman 3D (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I happened to see this on television a few years back (and taped it at the same time). I was suprised to discover a new, wonderfully humorous Christmas program done in the "Jimmy Neutron-style" of computer animation (same writer and producer as Jimmy). A snowman decides that he wants to be like Santa and hilarity ensues. The program features a fantastic voice-cameo of Ben Stein as a North Pole tour guide. The narration is provided by the deep-voiced announcer who is the voice behind many movie trailers. There are many humorous touches throughout the show including allusions to Star Wars and more. The story concludes with a positive moral that wraps it up beautifully. This deserves a place in your classics of Christmas collection - mine sits right next to Rudolph!

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SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN 3D - DVD Movie

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Five Shaolin Masters Review

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(More customer reviews)Man, oh man, this is one fantastic martial arts film. If Five Shaolin Masters doesn't have it all, it certainly does come close. Not only do you have numerous well-choreographed fight scenes involving groups as well as individuals, you've got a whole buffet of fighting styles served up for your viewing pleasure. Speaking of viewing pleasure, the print is fantastic. I can't speak for the DVD specifically, but the print that I saw was in vivid, glorious widescreen, looking more like a modern-day Hong Kong release than a film dating back to 1974.
As the film opens, the Shaolin Temple has just been destroyed by imperial Manchu forces. Thanks to a traitorous spy among the Shaolin disciples, the bad guys were able to take the Temple by complete surprise, killing all but five of its members. After fighting their way to safety, the survivors head off separately to make contact with other rebels. The Manchu are never far behind, as they are determined to stamp out all the rebels once and for all. Numerous fights ensue along the way, leaving the five Shaolin disciples alive but unsure of themselves, having learned that they are no match for the kung fu fighters of the Manchu. Having encountered their enemies (including the traitor that betrayed the Temple) face to face, though, they are now aware of their enemies' strengths and weaknesses. Proving that knowledge is power, each of them begins intensive training in the particular fighting style he thinks he will need in order to defeat his adversary. That, of course, sets the stage for one hell of a battle in the film's final 15-20 minutes.
I'm no martial arts film expert, but my understanding is that the great writer/director Chang Cheh brought together two generations of top-notch martial artists for this film. The five would-be Shaolin masters are played by Ti Lung, Chi Duan-chun, Mang Fei, Alexander Fu Sheng, and David Chiang, with the last two turning in particularly memorable performances. The Manchu kung fu experts are a few years older than the heroes, but their skills remain honed to a razor-sharp edge. Pao Yu-lung (Choi Wang) is deservedly renowned and feared for his skill with the Flying Axe, while his buddies (played by Kong Do, Fung Hak-on, Chien San, and Ma Fu-yi) are just as masterful at their own individual fighting styles. One of them kills a man with a mere snap of his ponytail, which was so impressive I had to immediately pause and watch him do it a second time.
The big fight at the end is the equivalent of five main events all rolled into one, featuring a display of martial artistry showcasing the Tiger and Crane style, advanced usage of the chain dart and fighting staff, a whopping ten complementary styles by one fighter, and all kinds of other impressive action. The realism extends all the way through the aftermath of each pugilistic duel, as well. Liu Chia-Liang's fight choreography is spot-on throughout the entire film, as is Chang Cheh's direction. For the time being, at least, Five Shaolin Masters is my new favorite martial arts film.

On a final note, a prequel to this film, Shaolin Temple, was made in 1976, so you might want to hunt that one down before watching Five Shaolin Masters. If you have any interest in kung fu cinema at all, though, you're definitely going to want to see this 1974 classic - with or without the prequel.

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Bogart & Bacall Collection (The Big Sleep / Dark Passage / Key Largo / To Have and Have Not / Bacall on Bogart) (1947) Review

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(More customer reviews)First, this collection contains FIVE tapes, although there are FOUR movies in this exquisite collection celebrating one of the great couples on and off screen in the history of Hollywood. The fifth tape is the 1988 documentary "Bacall on Bogart," which serves as a fitting capstone to the four films included in this collection, three of which are outright classics. The legend begins in the Howard Hawks directed "To Have and Have Not" (1944), with the most famous whistle in movie history. Based on one of Hemingway's lesser novels with dialogue from no less than William Faulkner, this "Casablanca" clone features Bogart reluctantly becoming involved with the French Resistance, not to mention Bacall, stunning in her film debut. Hawks also directs "The Big Sleep" (1946), the classic mystery thriller adapted from Raymond Chandler's first novel (again with Faulkner's help) with Bogart as Philip Marlowe and Bacall as the rich lady in trouble. If you like convoluted plotlines, this one is for you. John Houston's "Key Largo" (1948) adapts Maxwell Anderson's play about Edward G. Robinson's tough gangster holding Bogart, Bacall and Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Claire Trevor captive in a Florida hotel during a tropical storm. The one lesser work in the group is "Dark Passage" (1947), directed by Delmer Daves, but it is still an above-average film. Bogart is an escaped convict who undergoes plastic surgery and is hiding out in Bacall's apartment until his face heals. A bit contrived, but Bogart and Bacall are well worth watching, which is the entire point of this collection. Now if somebody would be something similar next Christmas for Tracy and Hepburn.

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Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942 (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I will not spend any time discussing the animated genius of these classic cartoon shorts since anyone visiting this page undoubtedly knows that already. However, since there have been many video releases of the Fleischer Superman shorts over the years, I feel it is necessary to clarify what is being offered with this latest edition. Having been considered part of the public domain for decades, these shorts have been issued numerous times on VHS and DVD with varying degrees of quality. The most notable DVD releases have been The Complete Superman Cartoons- Diamond Anniversary Edition released in 2000 by Bosko Video (now Image Ent.), and the Superman- The Ultimate Max Fleischer Cartoon Collection released in 2006 by VCI Video. Later that same year, Warner Bros. officially released all 17 shorts as bonus material split up between the Superman The Movie and Superman II DVD sets, which were also included as part of the 14-disc Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition and the 8-disc Christopher Reeve Superman Collection. WB's offering was unique in that it was the fist time that the Fleischer Superman cartoons were "remastered from superior, original vault elements." The result was more vibrant colors, top notch audio, and minimal amounts of dust and debris. While still far from perfect, it is the best these cartoons have ever looked.
This 2009 DVD set is nearly identical to the 2006 WB release, only this time as a separate stand-alone collection and the opening prologue to the "Mechanical Monsters" short corrected. For those who own the 2006 WB release, the only other new inclusion is "The Man, The Myth, Superman" featurette, which explores the archetype of superhuman heroes on the page and screen. The "First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series" featurette, which examines the history of the series, was also included as part of the 2006 release. It should be noted that WB's version has some minor edits to the beginning and ending title sequences (elaborated further in other reviews) that will be more apparent to purists than most buyers. Hopefully, this information unravels some of the subterfuge surrounding the different versions of these cartoons. Several decades after first appearing on the screen, the Fleischer Superman cartoons continue to be a benchmark for outstanding animation and are easily worth adding to anyone's video library.

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Star Trek - First Contact (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)This two Disk DVD Set is extraordinary. The Picture and Sound quality are so very good that you feel as though you are watching it in a theater. Because it's a widescreen picture the closed captioning doesn't interfere with the picture. It's jam packed with all sorts of extra bonus special features. Everything you ever wanted to know about First Contact and weren't afraid to be told. Let's not forget what a wonderful job Jonathan Frakes did directing. He truly proved himself a more than qualified director for feature films. We all know what a great job he did behind the cameras on the T.V. show. My boyfriend and I watched it together and he was really impressed. He asked me how much it cost. When I told him how inexpensive it was he bought two copies. One for a gift to another Treky fan. I highly recommend this two disk set and suggest you buy it right away before they run out. If you're not satisfied with it, I'll pay you for it. That's how much confidence I have that you'll absolutely LOVE it. Believe me when I tell you this is one purchase that you will never regret. ORDER NOW!!! In response to your comment first of all thank you for reading my review and please feel free to check them all out. You are correct I didn't leave enough information on my personal feelings. I thought the film was terrific. It lived up to the quality that we are used to getting when we see anything that starts out with the heading Star Trek. The storyline was very entertaining, it was as usual well acted, written, directed, great effects. I agree I could have done a better job on the body of the review itself. I'm busy writing another review as we speak. Thank you for taking the time to read my comments and I will strive to do better in the future!

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Matewan (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)John Sayles' best film merits a far better DVD treatment than this technical travesty.
Others here have mentioned the film's amazing cinematograhy, fine performances (indierockers note: a young Will Oldham -- aka singer/songwriter Bonnie "Prince" Billy -- has a featured role) and stirring story. But it bears repeating that this digital transfer is *atrocious*. The film is presented in "full-screen" format, lopping off the edges of Haskell Wexler's beautiful frames. Celluloid scratches and "reel change" hole-punches are visible throughout. And the sound, if you can believe it, is worse -- it's in hissy, almost inaudible MONO, for God's sake!
Zero commentaries. Almost no bonus extras, unless you count a few panels of "production notes."
Not worth a purchase. Wait for the morons at Artisan to get their collective act together and give this fine film the gold-star release it deserves.

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Sin City Review

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(More customer reviews)While it's probably a total cliche to say it by now, Sin City really is a wild thrill ride of a movie, and quite possibly the most entertaining thing that will hit theaters all year. Adapted by director Robert Rodriguez from Frank Miller's graphic-novel series, it's an energetic slab of neo-noir, complete with twisted characters, ambiguous morality, and deadly serious dialogue. For those who thought the Kill Bill movies weren't bizarre or violent enough, Sin City ought to seem like a stylish, action-packed gift from guy-movie heaven. It's filled with negativity, outrageously over the-top bloodletting, and some of the blackest humor known to man, but it all works anyway. I even managed to forgive the incessant voice-over narration, normally a rather lazy device, because it's so oddly poignant and poetic. It's not really that big a deal anyway, because this movie is so impressive visually that the characters could speak in gibberish and I'd probably still be moved to give it at least three stars.
It should be noted right off the bat that Sin City is not a movie for everyone, but if you're the type who would like it you presumably know who you are. IF you like crime movies, especially those filled with action and atmosphere, you will almost certainly get a kick out of Sin City. If you prefer lighter, more "socially redeeming" fare, you may still like it, or you may be overcome with bile filling your throat for most of its two-hour running time. It's all a matter of how willing you are to accept what's going on without asking too many nagging questions like "How exactly did Mickey Rourke just take out ten armed riot cops with nothing more than his fists and a hatchet?" or "is it really possible or even necessary to manually tear off a man's scrotum?". Everything about this movie is utterly outsized, from the themes to the characters to the action, but in the end it's a rousing success at what it intends to do, which is entertain. It's precisely because this movie was so utterly entertaining that I found myself unwilling to nitpick; you'll probably be too busy having your senses assaulted to linger on any problems you may have with the movie. Nothing is more key in movies (or TV, or novels for that matter) than getting the viewer to suspend disbelief, to simply let go and enjoy what's transpiring regardless of the plausibility level. Some of my favorite movies are wildly unrealistic, but at some point when watching them I just decided to go with it. Sin City is one such movie: I realized early on that the events unfolding onscreen bore little to no resemblance to reality as presently constituted; I just didn't care. I went to see this movie with my wife (who is, to put it mildly, not a fan of dark or violent movies), and she may have summed up the experience of watching it the best when she said simply "I was never bored." That, ultimately, is the secret to Sin City's success: it's so gripping to watch that it's hard to care about anything else.
As everyone (and probably their brothers) knows by now, Sin City was filmed using real actors against a black-and-white CGI background with some touches of color added for dramatic effect. It may seem like a gimmick at first, but Sin City is all about bringing the viewer into a sort of parallel universe, so this unconventional device works perfectly. Sin City is a movie dealing with lives on the edge, and it conjures up a delightfully dark, grimy, and gritty atmosphere to go match the depravity of its subject matter. Weighty themes and over-the-top violence abound here, and it's only fitting that the movie's look and feel should be so uniformly haunting. Consisting of three tangentially related stories occurring out of sequence, Sin City brings the viewer into an underworld populated by thieves, murderers, hookers, and dirty cops, and the morality is viewed entirely in shades of grey. In the Basin City of the movie, where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are even worse, violence is often a virtue, or at the very least a prerequisite for survival. If there's one redeeming value to Sin City's cartoonish ultraviolence, it's that it's painfully clear that its recipients generally deserve it.
Anyway, if there's one theme running through all of these stories, it's that of redemption. The protagonist in each tale (Bruce Willis's Hartigan, Rourke's Marv, and Clive Owen's Dwight) is a most unlikely hero (although Hartigan is just a regular cop and therefore not exactly bad, whereas it's clear that Marv and Dwight are murderers), but each finds himself driven to acts of extreme courage and sacrifice in order to see justice done. Sin City portrays a kind of heroism not typically seen in movies (especially big-budget, sanitized Hollywood productions), one that comes from doing the right thing even when it's nowhere near being the easiest thing. Rourke's Marv is probably the most memorable character, a hulking thug with a highly overdeveloped sense of vengeance who managed to arouse some of my sympathy even as he cut a swath of unimaginable destruction through his enemies on his way to avenging a murdered prostitute. Out of the legions of other figures in the movie, the great Benicio Del Toro deserves some special mention as a comically malevolent crooked cop who won't shut up even after he meets his unfortunate end.
Now, although I've gone on too long already, I'd feel remiss if I didn't talk about Sin City's staggering violence quotient. Yes, this an extremely graphic movie, and much of the violence is downright disturbing to watch (Elijah Wood's character being cut up and fed to a wolf is a prominent example, even if much of the violence in that case was implied), but it's just as true that context is an important factor when considering just how offensive such bloodletting is. Now, for one thing, Sin City is meant to be a piece of escapist cinema, so nothing that takes place onscreen should be taken too seriously anyway. After all, no one got offended during the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when King Arthur cut off the Black Knight's arms and legs; that scene was meant to be funny and it was. Perhaps more to the point, the violence here is so ludicrously over the top from the opening scene that it's hard to imagine any rational person getting too upset. You have to just go with it; if you're the kind of person who makes it a point to be huffy and offended all the time you shouldn't be seeing this movie anyway. 'Nuff said

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