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“Civil War veteran-turned-rancher John Benedict (William Holden) returns home from a hunting trip to discover that a ruthless renegade and his murderous gang of rogues have killed his wife and children. But when Benedict recruits six condemned men to help him extract fatal revenge, he realizes that his newly formed posse answers to no one – they are wild, dangerous and unpredictable killers, much like the men they are pursuing. Will they carry out Benedict’s plan or turn the tables and add him to their list of victims? ”

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“The Revengers” is a pretty decent revenge flick. William Holden puts down the bottle long enough to band together with a ton of other character actors to hunt down the people that murdered his family. I never remember seeing Ernest Borgnine playing this scummy of a character before. But, I guess that I wasn’t paying attention. Even his Cabbie from “Escape from New York” had some minor redeeming value.

Honestly, the movie is pretty generic. I dig it for the cast and that’s about it. The problem is most Westerns at the end of the Golden Era fit that mold and if Hawks couldn’t put it together, what chance did Mann have? Radical reinvention wasn’t going to happen with Holden or Borgnine, but we get close to saying something new. If anything this is a building block Western to something greater. Never mind that Peckinpah was doing just that three years prior over at Warner Brothers (cough) with the same lead actors (cough).

The DVD comes with a trailer as the sole special feature. The A/V Quality is pretty sharp. The Dolby 2.0 track creates a lively soundstage. That being said, that transfer is impeccable and leaves me wondering when we can expect a Blu-Ray release from Paramount/CBS. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.

RELEASE DATE: 05/20/2014

DEVIL’S DUE

Blu-ray reviews

TroyAnderson

May 1, 2014

THE PLOT THUS FAR

A young couple’s blessed event turns into their worst nightmare in one of the most terrifying horror films ever conceived! After a mysterious night on their honeymoon, Zach and Samantha McCall find themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. While recording everything on video for posterity, Zach notices odd behavior in his wife, which they initially attribute to nerves, although it soon becomes evident that the disturbing changes to Samantha’s body and mind have a much more sinister origin. All will suffer…but who will survive?

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Devil’s Due” was something that caught my wife’s attention. She was pregnant and ranting about how she didn’t want to watch this movie. I wasn’t pregnant, but I was glad that being knocked up had suddenly infused her with critical taste. Cut to a few months later and I’ve now seen the film twice. The film plays as a found footage look into the unraveling of a marriage due to Satan getting up in m’lady’s guts. Samantha McCall is a flat character that plays like Mia Farrow, if Satan’s barbed love appendage had stabbed her through the brain.

Demonic possession is pretty played out, but it can still be done well with some creative forethought. Luckily for the kids texting in the theater, nobody put anything into this movies that requires you to look up at the screen. The ending is typical, the action is forgettable and the poor husband gets to stand around like schlub and wine. Hell, at least Cassavettes was in on the action in “Rosemary’s Baby”. Poor Zach doesn’t really get anything out of this Satanic Coital Panic.

The Blu-Ray comes with deleted scenes, featurettes, commentary, Digital HD copy and DVD copy as the special features. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is strong enough for ambient noise and jump scares. The 1080p transfer showcases the limitations of the found footage aesthetic. Still, it looks better than most of the early Paranormal Activity movies. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

ROOKIE BLUE: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON

Blu-ray reviews

TroyAnderson

May 1, 2014

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Five rookies have kicked in doors, taken down criminals, kept people safe and saved each other in the process. Now they’re doing it all again, only better.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Rookie Blue” is so dependent on knowing what came before. But, I guess that you can say that for any cult show. Hell, I didn’t even realize that it still aired on ABC during the summers. But, the legions of fans that even the smallest show can inspire always find me on social media. In the last month, I’ve had readers informing me about every aspect of Sliders, Rookie Blue and Out of this World. Why do they do it? Well, it’s because they care. But, I think it also indicates a serious mental problem about the politics of rationality vs. social restraint.

I can’t say that I really like the show, but I don’t hate it. If you’re not invested in the characters, then this is yet another cop show with a female lead trying to make it in a man’s world. A thousand years from now, some alien civilization will probably watch this alongside “Single Female Lawyer” and they’ll spare our lives. Until then, it’s the latest entry in the sheer glut of an overstuffed TV landscape. Stuff like this makes it to four seasons, yet “Pushing Daisies” had to fight to get two years on the air. There’s just no damn justice in the world, man. This is why I stick to movies.

The DVD comes with webisodes and making-of featurettes as the special features. The A/V Quality is pretty strong. The transfer is clean, but the Dolby track doesn’t get a ton of back channel support. Ultimately, it’s on par with the last couple of season releases. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.

RELEASE DATE: 05/06/2014

DYNASTY: SEASON 8 – VOLUMES 1 & 2

Blu-ray reviews

TroyAnderson

May 1, 2014

THE PLOT THUS FAR

DYNASTY, the addictive, primetime soap opera that quickly became a 1980’s hit, returns to DVD with THE EIGHTH SEASON, VOLUME 1 & VOLUME 2. Explore the conflicts, passions, drives, and tensions of the Carringtons, a powerful, rich, and greedy oil family, as they struggle to maintain their position of wealth and power in the world.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Dynasty” arrives with its eighth season split into two parts. While this was the show’s worst season, the split makes the lack of creativity that much more pronounced. Hell, ABC has just axed The Colbys the year before and now everyone was getting stuffed back into the cast without regard to story flow. John Forsythe looked embarrassed and the writers were mining Joan Collins’ personal life for material. CBS and NBC would’ve killed the show long before it hit this point. But, that’s just where ABC was at the time. A dead last network desperately trying to find anything resembling a hit to fight off the CBS dramas and NBC comedies.

The show wasn’t always terrible. For the first four years, they had a great cast and a strong direction. Then, network changes and an overabundant cast started clouding direction and everything that started fighting to get attention. Much like the JSA comics of old, you should never let your main cast get over a dozen people. After that point, it’s less about forwarding the plot and more about checking the roster for screen time. It’s a mess, but the final season should be arriving next. That was decent.

The DVDs comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is pretty strong. The transfer is clean, but the Dolby track doesn’t get a ton of back channel support. Ultimately, it’s a pretty standard 80s show sent to DVD. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

ADDRESS, THE

Blu-ray reviews

TroyAnderson

April 30, 2014

THE PLOT THUS FAR

The Gettysburg Address is the subject of a new documentary by Ken Burns. The documentary tells the story of students at the Greenwood School whose study of the Gettysburg Address brings new understanding to the speech.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“The Address” is an attempt to find a way to relate important moments in history in a way that kids can understand. A group of 50 boys between middle and high school age have studied and found new ways to bring understanding to the Gettysburg Address. Ken Burn falls back, as he takes a full 90 minutes to let the students find their way through this courageous moment in time. What makes the Greenwood School so impressive is that it’s an alternative school. Ken Burns purposefully stages this dramatic reinterpretation in a place that is the last chance to keep young kids from heading to prison.

Ken Burns does amazing work here by letting the kids control the narrative. These are kids who normally don’t get a chance to shine and we naturally see them struggle a little with the heady material. But, they are allowed to find a way to connect what’s on the paper to their lives. History only comes alive for kids when we give them the chance to see that their lives are part of a much larger tapestry. It’s important and it allows for something greater than us all to emerge. I would’ve loved to have heard a commentary track for this, but I’ll take what I can get.

The DVD comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is pretty strong. The transfer is clean, but the Dolby track doesn’t get a ton of back channel support. Ultimately, it’s a pretty standard Lifetime movie sent to DVD. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

FRIENDED TO DEATH

TroyAnderson

April 30, 2014

Director: Sarah Smick
Writers: Sarah Smick and Ian Michaels
Cast: Ryan Hansen, James Immekus, Zach McGowan and Sarah Smick
Studio: Green Step Productions

“Friended to Death” is a film about Michael Harris and his addiction to social media. Ryan Hansen does a great job in the lead, as he manages to capture the personality of those people that caused me to destroy our comments section. We brought it back, guys! There’s just way more hoops to jump through, so you had better mean what you posted. Back to the movie, Michael is a guy that lives by the selfie and status update. Eventually, he screws up and posts information that he shouldn’t online. Michael loses his meter maid job, ends up on the outs with his friend and finds himself leaning on people he doesn’t know. That’s when he decides to stage his own funeral, since no one cares if he lives or dies.

The aspect of wanting to attend your own funeral isn’t morbid, so much as it is needy. It’s the ultimate vindication of a narcissist, as they can watch others validate his/her existence by placing themselves in a coffin dais as the center of attention. The film treats the act as that and it was pleasing to see Michael get called out for his actions. But, he also saw that many of his friends were undercover scum. The world isn’t black and white, people. While the movie does follow a basic comedic formula, the attention paid to subverting expectations was great.

If anything, the film works on its simple premise. Sad bastards will go out of their way to connect in artificial mediums. It’s just what they do with that interaction and how they validate themselves upon empty gestures and friendships. Don’t expect anything too serious, as you can probably guess your way through the plot. Just sit back and enjoy a rather well crafted comedy.

RELEASE DATE: 05/02/2014

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