1941

Oh 1941 what a glorious mess you are.

I've always liked Steven Spielberg's 1941, I think it mostly fails as a comedy, I just don't find it to be very funny but I do find the movie to be entertaining and I always have.

I was given the Steven Spielberg Blu-ray boxset for Christmas this year and one of the movies it contained was 1941 so a large part of my Christmas viewing was the extended cut of 1941 and I have to say given it's age the movie looks great and the audio is decent, the production values that the movie had are impressive and can be truly appreciated with the transfer used on the Blu-ray and the cast that Spielberg assembled for the movie is still impressive.

Some of the humour in the movie might be offensive to a modern audience, 1941 certainly isn't politically correct but that didn't personally bother me, I just sat back and gazed at what was unfolding on screen before me, it may not have been funny but it was certainly well crafted.

Oh 1941 what a glorious mess you are.

Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers ( The Theatrical Cut )

Memory can be a tricky thing sometimes, I had seen the theatrical cut of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers a couple of times and while I didn't think it was great I didn't think it deserved it's poor reputation.

Well I've rewatched it again after seeing the Producer's Cut of the movie and now that I know what was removed from the movie I have a greater appreciation of how poor the theatrical cut really is, a lot of the edits were clumsily done and the new ending makes no real sense, and the gore inserts did nothing to help the movie at all, the theatrical cut of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is pretty much a classic example of how not to edit a movie, I'm truly shocked that anyone could think this would be either a better or more profitable version of the movie.

Need for Speed

Some time ago I saw a trailer for the Need for Speed movie and I thought at the time it looked terrible, well it took me four sittings over two days to get through it and I can confirm it is indeed terrible, in fact I consider it to be one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.

Most of the driving and stunt sequences were well done but this has to be the most charisma free cast I've seen in a long time and what passes for a plot is just ridiculous.

Need for Speed is a bad movie to say the least and it should be avoided, don't say you weren't warned.

Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers ( The Producer's Cut )

There have been some poor quality bootlegs out there of the Producer's Cut of  Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, I tried to watch one a couple of years ago but the quality was so poor I just couldn't make it past about the 10 minute mark as I recall.

Well thankfully it was included in the Halloween: The Complete Collection Limited Deluxe Edition Blu-ray boxset released by Scream Factory / Anchor Bay.

I'd heard rumors about some of the changes that were made prior to the release of the movie in theatres but this is a very different movie, a flawed movie to be sure but superior to the theatrical version, it tells a more complete story and relies less on forced scares and gore, the origin story for Michael Myers is pretty crazy and doesn't seem to belong in this series but it's creative so you have to give the writer that.

What I wasn't expecting was for the movie to look so good, especially during some of the opening sequences, low budget horror sequels all tend to look.....well cheap but the movies Director Joe Chappelle manages to avoid that most of the time and the print of the film that was used for the Blu-ray looks great, a couple of picture flaws here but I've seen A-list titles that have received worse treatment, once again Scream Factory have released another quality product.

The only disappointing thing about the release of the Producer's Cut of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is that you need to but a very expensive boxset in order to own it, there are rumors that Scream Factory are going to release it as a single disc release and I hope that eventually happens.

The Producer's Cut Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is an interesting insight into what could have been and in my opinion a superior version of the movie, one of the Producer's is interviewed for the special features on the disc and he says both versions of the movie have their problems and also that the Producer's Cut isn't a completed film either but it's much closer to their vision of the film before the studio started to interfere with the production and since they were signing the checks they ultimately got their way, it would be interesting to know what may have happened to the series if the Producer's Cut had been released in 1995 instead of the Theatrical cut most people have seen.

Frankenstein Created Woman

Well you would wouldn't you ?, so why expect any less from the good baron ?

Baron Frankenstein has moved into another village and continues his research, now he has developed a method to capture and contain a human soul meanwhile a young man is tried an executed for a murder he didn't commit and a young woman who loved him commits suicide as a result.

The Baron captures the soul of the man and repairs the slightly deformed body of the woman and transfers his soul into her and soon after he/she seeks revenge on the men that were responsible for the murder as well as his/her execution and suicide.

The plot of the film is a little outrageous but the ever reliable Peter Cushing brings conviction to his role as Baron Frankenstein and his supporting cast all take things seriously as well, it could be easy to play things for laughs in a movie like Frankenstein Created Woman but instead the cast treat the material seriously and elevate the movie above it's slightly ridiculous plot.

Like most Hammer films Frankenstein Created Woman was a low budget affair but it still looks great and the restoration work done for the Blu-ray release is very impressive, while it isn't Hammer at the studio's finest Frankenstein Created Woman is a solidly entertaining move and one I'm sure audiences will continue to enjoy for years to come.

Spaceballs

Right up front I might as well say I'm not the huge Mel Brooks fan that a lot of people I know seem to be, in general I find that his movies contain a few big laughs but for the most part aren't that funny and that pretty much describes my feelings about Spaceballs.

Until recently I've never owned a copy of Spaceballs but I saw the blu-ray on sale so I grabbed a copy and last night I watched the movie and my feelings about it haven't changed, there are some truly funny moments but the rest of the movie is kind of flat.

One thing that has always impressed me about the movie is that it wasn't done on the cheap, a lot of the effects work in the movie was comparable to what was being done in science fiction movies at the time and some of the sets were also impressive.

For a movie of it's age Spaceballs looks pretty impressive in High Definition and it contains the special features from previous DVD releases including a nice tribute to the late John Candy.

Spaceballs isn't what I'd call essential viewing but you may want to check it out anyway "or else Pizza is gonna send out for you !"

Stop......It's Hammer Time !

Yesterday I had 13 Hammer Horror Blu-rays arrive in the mail and there are another few in transit, I think it's fair to say I lot of what I'll be writing about in the near future will be Hammer related.

Reboots, Remakes and Sequels or Everyone else is doing it so Why Can't I ?

It's been a while, hell it's been ages since I last made a post to the blog, life got to be a real drag there for a while and I just didn't have the energy or motivation to sit down at a keyboard and type, my divorce is still dragging on and my search for work has been unsuccessful so I guess I've had plenty of time but my focus has been on other things.

Over the last few days I've had a real urge to get back to the blog so here we are, not sure if you can call this a reboot, a remake or a sequel yet but lets just see where it goes.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

There are times when I really enjoy Tim Burton's movies but this was mast definitely not one of those times.

I'm no fan of the original movie based on this story so for me this wasn't a case of a horrible remake of a beloved movie but for me it was just a horrible move, I guess to his credit at least Burton tried some new things instead of just copying what had been done before.

Shutter Island

See it, seriously just find the time to watch this movie.

Shutter Island was a movie I'd been meaning to check out for ages but for one reason or another it just never happened until yesterday and I have to say I really enjoyed it, I guessed what was going on pretty early on in the movie but I was wrong on the reason why it was happening but I was fine with that, this is a movie that pretty much demands a second viewing and hopefully I'll get to that in a reasonable time period.

I really don't know what to say about the movie without giving the plot away other than just see it, I'll be truly shocked most people don't enjoy this movie.

Looper

I like a good time travel story, in fact I just like a good story in general but I honestly can't decide if Looper qualifies as either.

I really liked the concept behind Looper and it had some nice moments sprinkled throughout the movie but there was this gnawing something that I can't quite put my finger on that just didn't really work for me.

There have been some reviews that I've seen that compare Looper to Inception but for me there is no comparison as Inception is a superior movie in pretty much every way and perhaps that's the problem I have.

In the end I think Looper is an entertaining movie that could have been much better if it's back story had been developed a bit more, for me bits of it just don't quite work but the performances were good and on a technical level the movie was well put together but sadly I think the story needed a little more work.

Despite it's flaws I still think Looper is worth watching if you get the chance.

Snow White and the Huntsmen

Up until last night I had never actually seen a movie featuring Kirsten Stewart and having now seen Snow White and the Huntsmen I think it's safe to say I need never see another one, her performance was both free of expression and charisma but then she is far wealthier than I'm ever likely to be so what the hell do I know ?

Godzilla (2014)

Well the long anticipated Hollywood Godzilla is here and I have to say it's pretty good and unlike Hollywood's previous attempt this is recognisably based on the classic Godzilla movies produced by Toho studios in Japan.

I guess the biggest problem this movie faces is being compared to last years Pacific Rim which was also a movie featuring giant monsters along with giant mechanical battle suits destroying huge cityscapes and while that also happens in Godzilla ( minus the giant battle suits ) I was hoping for a film that was perhaps a little lighter in tone and a little more fun, I loved Pacific Rim but I only rather liked Godzilla.

This new Godzilla has outstanding production values as you would expect, there has been some criticism of aspects of the redesign of the title monster but I rather like the new look myself, I'm sure they will tweak things a little in any future sequels but I'm hoping they don't change things too much.

The only thing I didn't like about this movie was Bryan Cranston's performance in it, I thought he was grating and very annoying and I usually find him to be quite likable as an actor, thankfully he didn't have to carry the entire movie.

Godzilla is a good movie but I don't think it will be known as great one, I think things need to lighten up just a little and have a bit more fun but this new franchise is off to a good start and seems to be in good hands.

Superman: Ending Battle

Basically this is the collected version of a multi-issue battle with no real plot and extremely average to poor in places art.

It might be someones idea of fun but it wasn't mine.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray

I'm a big Star Trek fan and anyone who knows me knows at least that much about me, I own all the TV series and the movies but it always bothered me that the post 60s TV Star Trek series looked pretty crappy even on DVD, I never knew why but they just didn't look as good as I thought they should compared to other shows that had been released on DVD.

Well thank goodness for high definition I guess because sensing the opportunity to make a buck the powers that be in TV land have located all the individual elements used to make the show, dusted them off and reassembled the episodes again for a Blu-ray release and the result is rather impressive.

This is Star Trek: The Next Generation looking and sounding far better than it has before considering these episodes were made in the 80s, the have their flaws in places to be sure but I suspect this is as good as the show is ever going to or could look.

Is it worth the upgrade if you have he episodes on DVD ?, probably only if you are a big fan of the show, season one was pretty uneven in terms of story quality, the Next Generation team hadn't hit their stride yet in terms of storytelling or in some cases acting, there are some nice extras included with this set such as the feature length making of season 1 documentary but I imagine that will only appeal to hardcore fans of the show.

At the end of the day I'm glad I bought this set but it took me a long time to get through it, this isn't Star Trek at it's finest but this was the beginning of a new era for the franchise.

Kiss: Attack of the Phantoms

I'll bet this seemed like a great idea at the time, Kiss were dominating the charts so what could be better than a Kiss movie ?

Well as it turns out pretty much anything, this movie is just terrible, the only positive thing I can say about it is that it had some nice footage of the band performing in concert.

Shockingly this movie feels like Kiss meets Scooby-Doo at times but then it was a Hanna-Barbera Production.

Maybe they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

Captain America: Winter Soldier

Last night I watched Captain America: Winter Soldier and I enjoyed it a lot but I didn't think it lived up to the hype and I certainly wouldn't say it's one of the best superhero movies ever made.

I saw Cap 2 with a friend of mine and he wasn't / isn't really a comics fan but pretty much the first thing he asked after the film was are they going to make a Black Widow movie and I agree that this needs to happen, Black Widow kicked all kinds of ass in this movie and I think a solo movie is a fantastic idea

Chris Evans IS Captain America in exactly the same way Christopher Reeve IS Superman, some people just seem to be born to play a certain part and Evans is a fantastic Captain America.

I would never have thought Falcon would be cool but I really liked the movie interpretation of the character, I was also impressed by the inclusion of a decent version of a comic villain like Batroc who I always thought was pretty dumb.

Sanctuary Season 2

What the hell happened to this show ?, the first season started of pretty weak but improved over it's run, season 2 started out with some decent episodes but then it just started a rapid downhill slide in terms of quality going from bad to worse and finally flat out ridiculous.

It's a shame, it's a fun idea let down by some terrible scripts that ignore the realities of some situations for the sake of convenience, I little proof reading and a decent editor would have gone a long way towards making season 2 much better than it was.

She-Hulk: Single Green Female

I'm guessing this was supposed to be funny but the humor didn't work for me, there were lots of references to the wider Marvel Universe and those were fun.

I like the concept of a law firm the works on cases involving clients with super powers but this is another series that introduces a cool idea but the fails to deliver on it's promise.

I'm prepared to bet this was probably a fairly well liked series but I'm grumpy and old and I've only really enjoyed the She-Hulk character when it was written in a reasonably serious manner.

The Incredible Hulk: Silent Screams

Some comic creators have had what has been described as various times as legendary or definitive runs on certain books, writer Peter David's run on the Hulk is considered to be one such run lasting for around 10 years if I remember correctly, while I had read a lot of Peter David's writing ( especially his work on the Star Trek books and comic series ) I hadn't read very much of his work on the Hulk at all.


Silent Screams introduces the idea that Bruce Banner suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder and that the different incarnations of the Hulk that had appeared over the years were the physical manifestations of Banner's different personalities, I thought that this was an interesting idea and it takes the Hulk into a whole new arena of storytelling.


Now while I thought this was an interesting idea I really didn't care for the way it was presented here and that was a bit of a shock, as far as I can recall I've always enjoyed Peter David's writing up until now but the story just didn't grab me and some of the rather forced attempts at humour really didn't help the book in my opinion either.


The artwork by Dale Keown  was another disappointment for me, in this book I felt like I was looking at the work of a second rate John Byrne imitator and Keown is another creator who's work I remember liking, I have fond memories of his creator owned  book Pitt, maybe it's just a case of changing tastes.


I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would enjoy The Incredible Hulk: Silent Screams but I'm afraid I wasn't one of them, it has a great idea at it's core but I'm afraid for me it failed in it's implementation.

Hell Comes to Frogtown

With a title like Hell Comes to Frogtown it's probably safe to assume you aren't about to view anything approaching high art however I've always had a fondness for this film.

I first saw the movie, well most of the movie years ago when I accidentally taped it on late night TV, sadly the tape ran out before the end of the movie, years later I found a copy on VHS to rent but the tape was so badly damaged it was unwatchable, finally I discovered that the movie had been released on DVD and I just had to have it, I just had to know how it ended.

Hell Comes to Frogtown is a B movie in every way and revels in that fact but it's fun, it's production values are almost non existent but it has a certain charm however I was stunned to hear the movie was being released on Blu-ray, I just didn't get it as I couldn't imagine there would be any benefit to releasing that movie in a high definition format but I have to say it actually looks pretty good for a low budget movie, some of the locations look really nice in HD.

The movie was released in the UK on Blu-ray in very limited numbers but if it's re released there or gets a US release and you are a fan of the movie it's well worth checking out.

Dirty Harry

I recently picked up a 20 movie Blu-ray boxset of Clint Eastwood movies, the first film in the collection was Dirty Harry.

I had my doubts about there being any real improvement in picture and sound quality on a movie that old but I'm pleased to say I think it's a worthwhile upgrade, of course the movie can't compare with movies being produced using modern technology but Dirty Harry holds it's own in every other way, this is Clint Eastwood in one of his signature roles and I enjoy it as much now as I did the first time I saw it on VHS all those years ago.

It's a shame we don't seem to have many directors of Don Siegel's calibre anymore glossy big budget special effects and action sequences just don't make up for story telling ability, add to that Clint Eastwood's charisma on screen and you can only have a winning combination.

Doctor Who: The Light at the End

Doctor Who is my favourite TV show ever, well classic Doctor Who is, I've enjoyed the modern version of the show but it just isn't the same despite the increased budgets and pretty special effects.

For some time Big Finish have been producing audio dramas telling new stories featuring classic Doctors and while for the most part they have at least been enjoyable every now and again they've managed something special.

The Light at the End features the first eight Doctors and some of their companions ( the Big Finish licensing deal doesn't allow them to use characters from the modern version of the show ), to their credit Big Finish have managed to produce a story that is both enjoyable and gives the surviving Doctors their own moment to shine as well as bringing back a classic villain as well.

The Light at the End  isn't Big Finish at it's very best but it's still a lot of fun and certainly worth a listen.