Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Simply put, if you're here reading reviews about this movie you probably know exactly what to expect out of it, and already know if this is something you will enjoy or not.
It's a wonderfully cheesy movie chock full of over the top moments that border on being just plain silly, but that's the way I like it. If you're a fan of B movies do yourself a favor and give this a watch.

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The California coast is terrorized by two enormous prehistoric sea creatures as they battle each other for supremacy of the sea.
This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

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Monster: Box Set 1 Review

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(More customer reviews)Naoki Urasawa's psychological crime drama MONSTER is, as the other reviewers have said, undeniably one of the most accomplished anime series of all time. It is a near shot-for-shot adaptation of Urasawa's manga, and it is a testament to the strength of the story that almost nothing was changed. It seems almost too good to be true that this series is finally seeing a release in the United States.
Speaking of that, you can currently catch two episodes every Monday night on SyFy's Ani-Monday block. They are airing the English dub.
The story takes place in 1986 Germany. True to the times, the plot is rife with political drama; true to Urasawa, though, you will find a slowly arching, psychological thriller emerge in this gem of a story. Tenma, a Japanese doctor working in Dusseldorf, decides to go against the orders of his hospital's director by operating on an injured child instead of the rich Mayor. Demoted, he loses his fiance and his position in the hospital. In one of the best twists to come out of any fiction recently, the child he saved ends up being a manipulative psychopath, bred by others to be a successor to Hitler. The series begs the question, what do you do when your altruistic intent turns into something wholly horrible? Tenma sets out on a quest to fix his mistake, and the plot slowly unravels along with the mysterious past of Johan Leibert, the monster he brought back to life.
Now, the pros versus the cons. Anything good that can be said about this release is said about the show itself. Before I watched the show, the premise itself was enough to make me sit back for a few minutes and wonder what I might be getting myself into. There was no question in my mind that I would have to watch. And it excels in areas where few anime excel. Perhaps it is the intrinsic advantage that an animated work can sometimes have over a live-action one, but the directing of this series is stellar. As I mentioned, it follows the cinematic scenes and pacing of the manga so closely that it is represented like a film from a master director. Urasawa has a lot to be proud of in his creation, and in this adaptation.
There are bad things about this release, however. The series is 74 episodes long, and these 13-episode DVD releases by VIZ are simply too small. There is no reason to divide so few episodes on so many discs. A 24 episode episode set, even a 16 episode set, would be infinitely better not just for ease of consumption but for the wallets of consumers, too. At the Amazon pre-order price of $32.99 for all 6 anticipated DVD sets, this series will end up costing almost $200, around $2.70 an episode. Still, this is a small complaint when weighed next to the worth of the series, I suppose. The only other nitpick is the quality of the dub. Where characters appear menacing or calculating in the original language, the English dub can, at times, make them appear almost laughable. We have seen, especially recently, that dubs can be done right, though with this series the massive cast of characters and sweep of location can possibly make that difficult.
In short--this series is worth watching. These DVD sets may get expensive over time, but luckily the show is also airing on SyFy for those strapped for cash. Get a taste of it one Monday night and you will undoubtedly anticipate the next episode. This is a great series, not to be missed.
Revision 12/24/2009: I'll leave the review as it is, but as can be seen in my comments (and indeed on the box itself), the product contains 15 episodes. We'll have one less DVD set, it seems.

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Godzilla DVD Collection 7-Pack (Godzilla (1998) / Godzilla 2000 / vs. King Ghidora / and Mothra The Battle for Earth / vs. Destoroyah / vs. Space Godzilla / vs. Mechagodzilla / Giant Monsters All Out Attack / vs. Megaguirus) (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, these are all good to excellent Godzilla
flicks - lots of fun and worth owning. I give 2 stars
because if you don't happen to already own any of these,
you can at least get an instant collection for a fairly
good deal (low price).
The bad news is for those who are not new to Godzilla and
who have a collection already: all Sony did, from the looks
of it, is bundle up the back stock of previously released dvds.
There are no decent extras to speak of. This collection
features 9 movies on 7 disks as follows (two disks are double
features).
The Good:
Yes, there is some good here! The following are how ALL the
movies should have been handled and would have made this a more
solid effort on Sony's part:

Godzilla x Megaguirus, GMK and Godzilla x Mechagodzilla are
all in High Definition, offer English and Japanese soundtracks
and english subtiltles, which is the way ALL Godzilla flicks
should be presented in this day and age of DVDs. The Bad:
Godzilla x Mothra Battle for Earth and Godzilla x Ghidorah.
A travesty because these are STILL not presented in their
original aspect ration; they have NO JAPANESE soundtrack and don't
even have close captioning/English Subs. These are the exact
same Full Screen-No Frills copies that have been floating around
for years - whats up with Columbia Tristar!?
Godzilla x Space Godzilla and Godzilla x Destroyah. Great
flicks which are at least in widescreen. Columbia Tristar
still held off from including a Japanese soundtrack!
Godzilla 2000 - still just an English dub here folks, sorry.
At least its in widescreen; there is also a comentary track and
a few other nice extras which lift this disk up a bit.
The Ugly:
Godzilla 1998 - including this movie was weak. It isn't
all that bad if you can forget it bears the title of a
Godzilla movie because that's where any similarities end. It
doesn't need further comment except to say its a dinosaur
movie with lots of CGI effects and no heart. Its worth
seeing for the general viewer of hollywood style flicks.
In conclusion, Sony didn't do anything to make this a more
interesting collection for the long-time, long-term fan. I'm
not as sour on Sony/Columbia Tristar as I may sound here, but
this release just doesn't have anything extra.
Sony will have little to say to those who seek out bootlegs
or versions released from other countries in order to view
the movies as they were originally released.
50th Anniversary Editions:
Better news is that the other earlier 70s Godzilla flicks
(GxMegalon, GxGigan, GxMechaGodzilla etc.) were released
with English and Japanese dubs. Hoo-Ray for Columbia Tristar!

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Splice (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)SPLICE

STARRING: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac and Brandon McGibbon
WRITTEN BY: Vincenzo Natali
DIRECTED BY: Vincenzo Natali
Rated: R
Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller
Release Date: 04 June 2010
Review Date: 12 July 2010
I'm not exactly sure why I liked Splice, but I did. Even so, I won't be recommending it to anyone I don't know closely, because it's out there and isn't what most people will be expecting - especially based on its trailer.

If you're envisioning Species, you may be let down. If you're thinking Alien; you could be disappointed. It does however; lie somewhat in-between those two great films. And it's also sprinkled with a hint of the sort of family drama you'd find in The Jerry Springer show. I know - I just lost half of you there, didn't I? Still interested? Okay, keep reading.
Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play Clive and Elsa; scientists as well as lovers. We quickly move on and accept that their employers are either blind to the fact, or don't seem to care that they are beyond fraternizing. A good deal of the film rests on the shoulders of the merit of their relationship, and their on-screen allure makes those portions believable as well as entertaining; mostly by Adrien Brody. He's such a likeable guy, and a terrific actor.

I'll admit Splice takes it's time getting to the point, but I was never bored with it. The - `two characters in a room for prolonged periods of time' approach was handled with care; and there is a very subtle hint of `what the hell is gonna happen?' - teasing those hairs on the back of our necks for the first 30 minutes or so.
After advisors shut down their project, Clive and Elsa secretly push forward with their experiment of splicing animal and human DNA. There must be some kind of strict Hollywood code in Sci-Fi movies, that forces the writers to script the purpose for DNA splicing to involve `the better of mankind', because it's seems like that's always the reason. It is here too.
If you're not asleep by the end of act one, you may enjoy seeing the creature Clive and Elsa have well... spliced. I've certainly never seen anything like it, and was astronomically impressed. A blend of some barely visible CGI and beautiful make-up effects and voila; an original movie monster at last! The actress they hire to play the thing soon named Dren (Delphine Chaneac), does an amazing job at making her convincing, interesting and somehow even slightly attractive.

If you think you can predict where this film is headed, you may be surprised. It is essentially three films in one; each act taking a sharp turn into something else. Several viewers will despise the third act entirely. While it wasn't my first choice of destinations for the film to take me to, I wouldn't say I had the worst time with it.

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Superstar genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in splicing DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now they want to use human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine. But when the pharmaceutical company that funds their research forbids it, they secretly take their experiment underground--risking their careers to push the boundaries of science and serve their own curiosity and ambition. The result is Dren, an amazing, strangely beautiful creature of uncommon intelligence and unexpected physical developments. At first, Dren exceeds their wildest dreams. But as she grows and learns at an accelerated rate, her existence threatens to become their worst nightmare.

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