Escape to Witch Mountain (Special Edition) (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)Growing up as a child in the 1970's I remember watching THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY every Sunday evening at 7pm. I of course enjoyed the cartoons but also enjoyed the many live action Dinsey movies such as THE SHAGGY DOG, THE SHAGGY D.A., POLLYANNA, THE WHIZ KIDS movies and of course the WITCH MOUNTAIN movies. I remember looking forward to ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN and would make it a point to never miss this movie when it aired.
The story is about a brother and sister, Tony & Tia, who along with their alien family tried to migrate to Earth but crashed upon arriving. Tony and Tia then try to locate their family with the assistance of a widower while trying to avoid a rich villan who wants to use the kids Extra Sensory Powers (ESP) to further his greedy goals. As a child I actually found this movie to be very scary. I actually feared for Tony and Tia. Now as an adult it has lost the scary aspect. That comes with age I guess. It is still a good watch though.
I have wanted to purchase this film for years so my children could watch it. Now that they are pre-teens and begining to lose their childhood innocence I was finally able to purchase this new DVD. As I suspected they were reluctant to watch this movie and the sequel RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN. I finally got them to watch the films and they did enjoy the them but obviously it did not have the same effect on them as it did me. However younger children, especially those who have not been spoiled by CGI special effects will no doubt still enjoy the films. I tried to explain to my children that as a grade schooler I had a huge crush on Kim Richards (Tia). I got teased for that and of course when I teased my boy about his attraction to Hillary Duff that was a different matter. Go figure.
The DVD has some nice special features. Interviews, cartoons and other such material. I don't have enough positive things to say about Disney's old movies being offered through their Vault Disney line of products.

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A vehicle floats in midair ... a coat rack comes to life and attacks a sheriff ... and wild animals are putty in the hands of Tony and Tia Malone in Disney's thrilling fantasy adventure about the psychic powers of two young orphans. Their clairvoyance prompts evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland) to lure them to his mansion to exploit their powers. While escaping, they meet a friendly camper (Eddie Albert) and begin to unravel the mystery of their origin. Soon, all three are fleeing townspeople who have branded the children witches. But then IT happens! Someone with even greater powers takes over and leads the children -- and the audience -- into a dazzling and unexpected experience ... one that is truly out of this world!

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The Return of Jafar/Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Aladdin 2 & 3 Collection) (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Disney suddenly recognized the marketing potential of direct-to-video sequels in the 90's. The 1994 sequel to Aladdin entitled The Return of Jafar had none of the style that made Aladdin so memorable. With second rate songs, a second rate story clearly designed as a pilot for the TV series The Return of Jafar could have been produced by any studio and the generic quality of the film is one of its principle flaws. On a scale from A to F, I'd have to rate Jafar as a C-. The animation has little of the character one expects from Disney and has bottom of the barrel production values. The only redeeming qualities are the return of actors Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin. Dan Castellaneta stands in for Robin Williams who got into a royal pissing match with Disney when they used his voice without permission for toys and marketing purposes. In "The Return of Jafar" the evil sorcerer returns to try and take over the kingdom and get revenge against the "street rat" Aladdin. Even a guest appearance by Jason Alexander can't save this from being strictly mediocre at best. The songs are second rate and can't hold a candle to the brilliant material written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman from the first film. This film is in a standard aspect ratio meaning it was designed for a square TV screen. "Thieves", on the other hand, has been presented in a 1.78:1 widescreen format so it will play well on 16x9 widescreen TVs. I know the original VHS version of "Thieves" was in a standard format and this is the first I've seen of the film in 1.78:1 widescreen (although it might have been in that format for laserdisc).
"Aladdin and the King of Thieves" improves on Jafar. With a larger budget, smoother animation, better production design and the return of Robin Williams as Genie, the third film almost approaches the majesty of the first. Aladdin goes in search of his father and, with the help of an enchanted septer found among the King's treasures, he finds him only to discover that his father leads the 40 Thieves. With appearances by the late Jerry Orbach and the return of the principle cast from the first film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves rates a solid B. Although the songs aren't quite up to Menken and Ashman standards are improved with a variety of songwriters contributing material.
The vibrant colors and slick production design bring the third film closer to the original although it can't quite match the first film for sheer invention. John Rhys-Davies ("Lord of the Rings", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Sliders") turns in a great performance as Aladdin's father. It sounds as if the director had Sean Connery in mind as Rhys-Davies' performance sounds quite a bit like Connery. Likewise, the late Jerry Orbach's performance as one of the villans of the film is a highlight as well. Both films come with games that can be played by tykes. Careful What You Wish For and Disneypedia are the two extras included with Jafar. The former make keep tykes interested one or two times but will lose them with later viewings. The latter discusses different wishing traditions from around the world and is pretty decent although short and very sketchy in terms of details. The best featurettes are saved for Thieves. Loot in the Liar and Bag the Bad Guys are the two games included here. Again, like most Disney games designed for their DVD releases, they'll keep kids interested a couple of times at best. Both of these are at least equal to if not better than the single game on Jafar. Behind the Microphone takes us on a visit with the people who did the voices for Thieves. It's a solid featurette and once again better than that included on Jafar. There's also a song selection with lyrics that pop up on the screen. That feature will come in handy when the kids want to sing along with the songs for both films. As I mentioned before, none of the tunes can hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs but the superior material in Thieves at least has a sense of melody (although Orbach's In or Out song from Thieves should have been left out as its probably one of the worst of the bunch).
Jafar will provide an entertaining diversion for kids who loved Aladdin. While the film compare to the original or the third film Thieves its enjoyable. Thieves, on the other hand, could have been a contender. If Disney had chosen to put a bit more effort and money into it I have no doubt that they could easily have created a classic equal to the original. As it is, Thieves is very close to the quality of the original film with a witty script. The film is hampered by the same limited animation (although superior to Jafar) and by songs that can't hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs. The image quality, transfer, sound and extras are all exceptionally good given that these were created for the video market only.

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Aladdin's thrilling adventure continues with ALADDIN: THE RETURN OF JAFAR and ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES -- together for the first time on DVD in the ALADDIN II & III COLLECTION. This exciting two-movie set features two times the magic, two times the fun, and all your favorite characters!

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Pink Panther 2 (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Better sight gags, more inspired comic sequences, and an actually clever mystery plot make "The Pink Panther 2" a more confident and more enjoyable film than its predecessor, which itself was perfectly watchable.
Yes, I guess it's pretty clear that I'm one of those in the minority who don't think it's sacrilege that Steve Martin is trying to follow in the footsteps of the great Peter Sellers. Two things should be remembered on this score: Peter Sellers was extremely talented, no doubt, but his Inspector Clouseau was, well... a bumbling detective character. In other words, it's not the kind of subtle, nuanced character that another talented comic actor can't legitimately take a crack at. Secondly, people forget that critics weren't head over heels in love with the original Sellers Clouseau movies, either, especially his last two or three. Moviegoers tended to like them, but critics mostly dismissed them in favor of Seller's more serious comic works, like "Dr. Strangelove", "Being There", etc. So let's all get a grip now.
Myself, I enjoy Martin's take on the character. Seller's Clouseau was a complete boob who only solved crimes and attained fame completely accidentally, which was admittedly interesting. Martin's take is also interesting, though: his Clouseau is a complete boob at most things, but also has some legitimate detective skills. Those two divergent aspects of the same character makes Martin's Clouseau fun to watch.
So, is the film a comic masterpiece? Nah. But "The Pink Panther 2" is a lot of fun, and definitely worth a trip to the theater.

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Knight Rider - Season One Review

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(More customer reviews)It's hard to match the original classic series, but the new Knight Rider manages to be fun and cool. It's a little lightweight, to begin with. This is pure saturday afternoon popcorn TV. So don't expect Lost or the new Battlestar. I like Val Kilmer as the voice of Kitt, and I also warmed to the Mustang after a while. The new lead actor is good in a different way to Hasselhoff was, he seems a little more vulnerable.
If you like shows with cars, good looking women and fun action storylines. You'll like this.

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An iconic TV classic is back and better than ever in the reinvented, updated, and super-charged Knight Rider Season One. From executive producers Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity franchise), David Bartis (The O.C.) and Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) comes this action-packed series about the coolest car ever created, K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand), that’s equipped with artificial intelligence capable of hacking into any computer, the weapons system of a jet fighter, and incredible custom body technology that allows it to transform into other vehicles. Relive every Season One episode as an elite team of crime-fighters work with K.I.T.T. to track down elusive, high-tech villains. Presented in uninterrupted Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you won’t want to miss this fast-paced ride to the wild side!

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