The Alien Legacy (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)You're not reading this for a critical review of the movies; if you haven't seen the movies, you've been living under a rock for the last 20 years (in which case you should rent them, then buy this set). You're reading this because you want to know if this set is worth owning.
Yes, yes, and yes. Simply put, this is the best usage of DVD to date. Picture quality and sound are outstanding, and that's just the beginning. What makes these discs shine is all the attention that was put into the extra goodies on the discs themselves. Pop in the Aliens disc, and the menu is as if you're watching one of the Marines' helmet cameras, investigating the lost colony. Put in Alien and you'll be traveling down the famous claustrophobia corridors of the Nostromo choosing your options. After seeing these you'll take a different point of view on a lot of your other DVD's, once you witness how good they could have been but aren't.
On these discs there's deleted footage, commentaries, theatrical trailers, making-of documentaries, and too much more to name here (although, if you once owned the Aliens laserdisc, there isn't quite all the stuff there was on that version, like Cameron's script drafts and other written material).
A feast for fans. The best DVD purchase I've ever made, and a rediscovery of the old Alien magic. Highly recommended.

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True Lies (1994) Review

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(More customer reviews)Meet Arnold Swarzennegar - amazing James Bond type spy who's absolutely clueless as a husband and father. He starts out as impeccable as 007, who he is obviously spoofing, but then loses it and goes crazy when he suspects his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) is cheating on him.
his best buddy, Tom Arnold from "Roseanne" fame, is the perfect comic foil. It's really Tom that makes this act/adv stand out from the crowd. The dialogue is fast, funny, and Tom takes it to the limit. Also up for a laugh is Bill Paxton, another Cameron regular (Aliens), who plays a seedy used-car salesman posing as a spy in order to seduce women. He really goes all the way, completely unafraid of playing a true idiot!
It's just so great to watch an act/adv with great action that isn't limited to the usual, off-hand quips from stoneyfaced he-men. This movie is one of my favorites because it's a great popcorn movie that delivers on many levels. It's not just an excuse to blow things up and no one takes themselves too seriously. Everyone obviously had a great time making this film and it shows. I hope they make the sequel soon.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is special agent Harry Tasker, a top spy in the ultra-secret Omega Sector who also dances a mean tango- although to his neglected wife, Helen, (Jamie Lee Curtis) he's just a dull computer salesman. But while Harry's been busy fighting terrorists, Helen's been gathering secrets of her own. And when their two secret lives unexpectedly collide, Harry and Helen find themselves in the clutches of international terrorists, fighting to save not only their marriage but their lives as well. Packed with non-stop action, spectacular special effects and unprecedented stunts, this "domestic epic" from director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) is a rollicking `90's twist on the super spy genre.

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Alien Quadrilogy (Alien/ Aliens /Alien 3 /Alien Resurrection) (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)This consists of two discs for each film, the original and an alternate version (more on that below) on the first disk, and collections of approximately 2 hours of featurettes and other bonuses on the second disc. The ninth disc is a hodgepodge of trailers and other items from previous DVD and laser disk versions. Although the extras have been released in a variety of forms over several years (the John Hurt documentary 'The Alien Saga', being the latest), THIS is the definitive version.
'Alien' (average user rating: 4.6). If you haven't seen this classic film, then you must be living under a rock. The collection includes the original theatrical version (which I prefer) and the "Director's Cut", notable for its inclusion of the controversial captain-cacooned by alien scene (controversial because from the Alien mythology developed in later films, we know that only the massive queen can lay eggs). I prefer the original (which is actually 1 minute longer), and interestingly enough, it appears that Ridley Scott prefers the original as well. The making of featurettes are extensive and reveal Giger's extensive participation and how what was originally expected to receive a b-moive budget became one of the very few examples where Fox studios followed the vision with a classic.
'Aliens' (average user rating: 4.7). This is the only sequel I know of that is rated higher than the original. This time, the "Special Edition" version (also on the previous 'Alien Legacy' box set) is a superior experience and exactly is how upstart director James Cameron (who had written the script prior to the release of 'The Terminator') wanted to release the film, but was constrained entirely by time limits. The result is additional scenes featuring the colonists and Ripley's family lost to the time she spent in hypersleep. As with the first installment, the featurettes are interesting and thorough, although the Viet Nam War metaphor is not as thoroughly explored with Cameron as has been in other releases.
'Alien 3' (average user rating: 3.2). As a fan of the franchise, this was perhaps the most anticipated part of this new box set. The "working print" of the film (the longest of all the versions here, and complete with subtitles for missed sound editing), adds a depth to the film that was not in the original. That is, the arrival of Ripley and the characters are covered much more thoroughly, the alien creature is begotten by an oxen with a much more original look, there is an additional plot twist arising from the nature of the inhabitants (criminally delusional), and there is no riduculously-timed chest-burster scene at the end. Still, the film is a flawed masterpiece. The film is better appreciated in light of the bad situation first-time director David Fincher had been placed in - not the least of which is an incomplete script during production and a set that had already been constructed for the ill-conceived "wooden planet/monestary" vision of the previously assigned director. In this sense, the three production featurettes come across as almost an apology/tribute to Fincher. (NOTE: Fincher is the only director who is not interviewed on the box set.)
'Alien Resurrection' (average user rating: 3.0). What happens when you put the French director of 'Amelie' (Jean-Pierre Jeaunet) in charge of an alien movie? Well, foreign/art movies were all the craze in the last 1990s, so . . . Fox studios thought, "Why not?" In the end, many fans of the franchise did not appreciate the obviously satirical slant on this final installment. The opening scene and ending scenes (the only additions of substance) on the extended version make the film even more tongue-in-cheek. Despite the French director and crew's obvious regard for the original 'Alien' (as documented in the featurettes), armed with the return of Sigourney Weaver and the addition of superstar Winona Ryder, the director ultimately made a quirky, campy action film. But in the end, it was the last quarter of the script that makes this the weakest of all the installments by far. Postscript to Fox studios: if you had given Fincher this much creative freedom, you would have have a third masterpiece.

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Disc 1: Alien Collector?s Edition Disc 2: Aliens Collector?s Edition Disc 3: Alien 3 Collector?s Edition Disc 4: Alien Resurrection Collector?s Edition Disc 5: Bonus Disc

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Panasonic TY-EW3D2MMK2 Ultimate 3D Starter Kit (Avatar 3D + 2 Rechargeable Glasses) Review

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(More customer reviews)The glasses that come with the kit are actually pretty comfortable. I have no discomfort while watching a movie with them on.

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Relive the cinematic 3D experience of Avatar at home with this Panasonic Ultimate 3D Pack and a compatible Panasonic VIERA 3D HDTV. This special package includes the Avatar Blu-Ray 3D Disc, two rechargeable 3D active shutter glasses, two eyewear cases, and a USB charger and rechargeable battery.

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Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition) (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm primarily interested in the storyline differences between special sets and their theatrical counterparts, so here are the differences between the two (NOTE: SPOILERS FOLLOW).
The extended collector's edition runs 16 minutes 28 seconds longer than the theatrical cut, and listed below are the major differences.
1) The opening scene is different, and starts with Jake in a wheelchair on Earth, in a Blade Runner-esque Earth city. The scene moves to scenes of Jake in his apartment, then taking liquid shots in a bar. Jake's narration of "I told myself I can pass any test a man can pass" and "They can fix the spinal if you got the money. But not on vet benefits, not in this economy" are inserted during this new opening scene.
Jake beats up a bar patron who is mistreating a woman, and then Jake and wheelchair are unceremoniously thrown outside by bouncers into an alley. While in the alley, Jake meets the two RDA representatives who bring him news of his brother's untimely death. Then the movie cuts back to the original theatrical cut where Jake sees his brother's body cremated, then awakes in space.
2) During Jake's initial flyover of Pandora in his avatar, they witness a herd of Sturmbeasts, buffalo-like creatures.
3) After seeing the Sturmbeasts, Grace, Jake, and Norm stop by Grace's old English school for the Na'vi. The school is now closed, abandoned, and some walls are riddled with bullet-holes. Norm finds a Dr. Seuss book, "The Lorax", on the ground. This scene explains how Neytiri knew English so well, and certainly gives some further backstory into Grace Augustine's character.
Interestingly, The Lorax can be seen as a metaphor for the Pandoran story. Recall that the seemingly simple Seussian book is actually a lesson on the plight of the environment and industrialization.
4) We see some other different Pandoran flora and fauna, particularly with scenes of the luminescent forest floor.
5) Jake's first dinner with Neytiri is longer and extended, and it's here that she tells him her full name.
6) When Jake, Grace, and Norm first visit the Hallelujah Mountains on the way to the remote uplink station, Grace explains (in a Jake voiceover) that the mountains are levitated [via the Meissner Effect], because Unobtanium is a superconductor. There's a pretty spectacular CGI shot as the characters look around in awe at the suspended mountains.
7) Pictures of Grace and Na'vi children at her previously functioning school. Dr. Augustine tells Jake that she previously taught Neytiri and her sister, Sylwanin. However, one day, Sylwanin and some hunters destroyed an RDA bulldozer, and RDA SecOps troopers killed them at the school, which explains why the school walls were previously seen pockmarked with bullet holes.
8) Sturmbeast hunting scene after Jake tames a Banshee. After Jake successfully kills a Sturmbeast with an arrow, he and Neytiri chortle a "Heck yeah!" and whoop.
9) Jake and Neytiri's love scene comprises them linking braids together. Some kissing, nothing explicit.
10) Tsu'tey leads a war party that destroys the RDA's autonomous bulldozers, as well as the RDA SecOps squad that was guarding them. Corporal Wainfleet leads the search party that uncovers the evidence, via real-time helmet cam footage. Not sure why they cut this scene from the theatrical cut, as it persuades Selfridge to attack the Home Tree.
11) Attack of Hammerhead Titanotheres on RDA forces has been extended slightly; additional scenes of AMP-Suits getting destroyed.
12) Fight between Colonel Quaritch in AMP Suit and Neytiri on Thanator slightly longer.
13) Tsu'tey's death scene; in the theatrical cut, he falls off the RDA shuttle's aft ramp to his death. In the Collector's Edition, he falls to the forest floor, mortally wounded. He passes on leadership to Jake, and asks Jake to ceremonially kill him e.g. hara-kiri, so that Jake will be the last shadow that Tsu-Tey sees. Jake does so.
I preferred the original Tsu'tey death scene, which was more dramatic. Jake, had afterall, already become the de facto clan leader by that point in the movie, so further formal transfer by Tsu'tey (a minor character) seemed unnecessary.

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Experience the spectacular world of James Cameron's Avatar as never before with this all-new three-disc extended collector’s edition. The journey begins with three movie versions: the original theatrical release, the special edition re-release, and the exclusive extended cut not shown in theaters. The set's bonus feature run more than three hours and include over 45 minutes of deleted scenes and a feature-length documentary on the film's groundbreaking production. The greatest adventure of all time just got bigger and better.Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD
Contents of the DVD Extended Collector's EditionReview of the Original Theatrical EditionHere's what we had to say about the original theatrical edition of Avatar after seeing it on the big screen:After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton

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