NEWS
Mon
21.7.08
"Stargate: Continuum" debuts on BD & DVD Aug 6
Brandon V
Good news for Stargate fans: "Stargate: Continuum", the feature-Length movie following "The Ark Of Truth" premieres on DVD and in High Definition on Blu-ray on August 6th, 2008. In this action adventure film, members of SG-1 find themselves returning to a world where their history has been dramatically altered. Filmed partly in the Arctic, "Stargate: Continuum" is the most ambitious Stargate production yet, and features extensive visual effects throughout. Indeed, according to Producer Brad Wright, “We've got nuclear submarines, F-15's and the bone fide Arctic Circle". Both the BDs and DVDs will include all-new bonus content, including a feature-length audio commentary with Producer/Writer Brad Wright and Director Martin Wood, as well as three featurettes. The BD will be authored in BD-Java with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) on a single-layer 25 GB disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio.
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REVIEWS
Fri
25.7.08
Hellboy (Blu-ray) (2004)
Dean M
The adaptation of comic books into pictures that move and make sounds has come a very long way in the last forty years. If you need any more elegant proof of that, try imagining Hellboy coming out in the dizzying heights of the 1960s, when people still thought Adam West had anything meaningful to say. The disc that Hellboy is presented on features a superb video transfer and a very good, if somewhat front-oriented, audio transfer. If you ever wondered what the surly, mean bouncer at your favourite haunt would be like as a superhero, then Hellboy is a good place to look. Recommended viewing.
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Frisky Dingo-Season 1 (2006)
Rob G
Another great animated series from Adult Swim, this one involving a maniacal, naked man-beast who wants to destroy the earth. His plot is forever hindered by legal and financial frustrations, which makes for some hilarious situations. Certainly worth a look if you're fond of the other Adult Swim output. No extras.
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Thu
24.7.08
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Blu-ray) (2007)
Dean M
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street is an adaptation of a musical that is in turn based on a play that is in turn based on one of London's most enduring popular legends. Director Tim Burton brings his unique sensibility to the story and creates a great musical. The disc it is presented on features an excellent video transfer and a great if somewhat straightforward lossless audio transfer. Musicals as an artform may be dead, but that has not stopped Burton from animating the corpse and making it dance around as only he can.
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That '70s Show-Season 1 (1998)
GarryA
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That 70s Show is a TV sitcom you may have missed. A talented ensemble cast delivers occasionally inspired humour, peppered with serious thought, derived from the parental and teenaged problems of that decade. Good picture and sound, and well worth twenty-two minutes of your time.
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Wed
23.7.08
Planet Terror-Extended Version: Special Edition (2007)
OsakaBen
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Planet Terror is Robert Rodriguez' contribution to the Grindhouse experiment. It's a zombie movie that's a lot of fun. The video is dirty (like the movie) and the audio is first class. Definitely worth checking out.
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SpongeBob SquarePants-Karate Island (2005)
DanielB
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Spongebob pays tribute to Enter the Dragon and The Fly in these very funny episodes. No extras unfortunately.
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Tue
22.7.08
Unforgiven (Blu-ray) (1992)
Dean M
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Unforgiven is one of the best films to have ever come out of the Western genre. In the visual sense, it is a definite upgrade over the DVD, but I suspect it is merely a 1080I master, as evidenced by one artefact early in the piece. The audio transfer is also quite limited. If you are a fan of the film, you could do much worse, but I suspect (and hope) this will not be the last time we see a remaster or upgrade of Unforgiven.
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I Spy-Volume 1 (1965)
DanielB
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I remember this show fondly from my childhood, but unfortunately all the episodes do not really hold up forty years on. The ones that do are very entertaining but the ones which don't can be painful. No extras, which is a shame.
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Mon
21.7.08
The Wild (2006) (Blu-ray)
Dean M
I tried very hard to remain neutral on the subject of The Wild, which I obtained for the very agreeable price of nothing. But when sitting down to analyze it for review, indifference to the content soon soured into a visceral hatred. Useful only to adults as the kind of thing you show in film school as the basis of a Pick Ten Things Wrong With It exercise, I hate it and anyone who defends it on the basis of being for children. Naturally, the disc it is presented on is of top-notch quality.
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Chapter 27 (2007)
AdamG
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Three days in the life of Mark Chapman leading up to the point he shot John Lennon. Though it sounds an interesting premise, there isn't much interesting in this brief jumble.
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Rossini-L'Italiana in Algeri (Stojin/Mironov/Frizza) (2008)
Trevor D
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A cocky 21 year old with 10 operas under his belt Italian composer Giaochino Rossini whacked out a minor masterpiece in 1816 with L'Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers). With a plot about a bored Turkish Bey learning the hard way that Italian women are to be trifled with at your peril it is no Hamlet but the verve of the piece, full of tuneful arias and dazzling ensembles carries the show to a riotous conclusion. This live production is very well presented on DVD and is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any opera lover.
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Sat
19.7.08
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Umbrella) (1983)
Vanessa A
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Despite some flaws evident in the transfer, all-round this is a great release of a fine film with some informative vintage and recently filmed extra feature content.
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Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Steve C
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Alain Resnais' masterpiece, Hiroshima Mon Amour finally gets a local release on DVD. This is a rich and rewarding film that only improves with every subsequent viewing. Umbrella have given us a decent transfer and an interesting fifty-minute documentary about the cinematic career of Resnais. Recommended.
. Sponsored by Atlantic DVD.
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The First Eden (1987)
DanielB
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This is a very high quality natural history series from the inimitable David Attenborough. Unfortunately, it covers the modern world from a 1987 perspective which makes it somewhat dated. Video and audio are what you would expect for a mid-1980s TV show.
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Shaun of the Dead (2004)
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