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The Golden Compass (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)

Actors: Kathy Bates, John Bett, Jim Carter, Tom Courtenay, Daniel Craig
ASIN : B00139W3NE
Sales Rank : 1918
Director : Chris Weitz
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : New Line Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794043120114
UPC : 794043120114
Release Date : December 29, 2008
Publisher : New Line Home Video
Manufacturer : New Line Home Video
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Label : New Line Home Video
Running Time : 113

Product Description

Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 11/11/2008 Rating: Pg13

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A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.

Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete. --David Horiuchi

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The Terminator [Blu-ray]

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn
ASIN : B000F9RB9Y
Sales Rank : 239
Director : James Cameron
Brand : Terminator
Studio : MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code : 0
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0027616151285
UPC : 027616151285
Release Date : December 20, 2006
Publisher : MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer : MGM (Video & DVD)
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Label : MGM (Video & DVD)
Running Time : 108

Description

In the year 2029, the ruling super-computer, Skynet, sends an indestructible cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before she can fulfill her destiny and save mankind.

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This is the film that cemented Schwarzenegger's spot in the action-brawn firmament, and it was well deserved. He's chilling as the futuristic cyborg who kills without fear, without love, without mercy. James Cameron's story and direction are pared to the bone and all the more creepy. But don't overlook the contributions of Linda Hamilton, who more than holds her own as the Terminator's would-be victim, Sarah Connor--thus creating, along with Sigourney Weaver in Alien, a new generation of rugged, clear-thinking female action stars. It's surprising how well this film holds up, and how its minimalist, malevolent violence is actually way scarier than that of its far more expensive, more effects-laden sequel. --Anne Hurley

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Left Behind - The DVD Collection (Left Behind / Left Behind II - Tribulation Force / Left Behind - World at War)

Actors: Kirk Cameron, Left Behind Trilogy
ASIN : B00175GAHE
Sales Rank : 1313
Brand : Koch International
Studio : Cloud Ten Pictures
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0745638008133
UPC : 745638008133
Release Date : December 08, 2008
Publisher : Cloud Ten Pictures
Manufacturer : Cloud Ten Pictures
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Label : Cloud Ten Pictures
Running Time : 284

Album Description

This collection includes: Left Behind: The Movie; Left Behind II: Tribulation Force; Left Behind: World At War; and the bonus disc of The Original Left Behind Documentary, based on the Book by Peter & Paul Lalonde. These classic thrillers star: Kirk Cameron, Lou Gossett, Jr., Chelsea Noble, Brad Johnson, and Clarence Gilyard.

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Left Behind - The Movie
Part conspiracy theory and part religious message, Left Behind (based on the first in a series of runaway bestsellers by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins) is a passable, occasionally compelling thriller that turns the rapture and the ascendance of the Antichrist into something resembling a Robert Ludlum espionage potboiler. The beginning, though, is pure Stephen King: as morose pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) steers his jet plane toward London, comely flight attendant Hattie Daniels (Chelsea Noble) informs him that a number of passengers have disappeared--at 37,000 feet, leaving their neatly pressed clothes behind. And they're not the only ones who've gone missing. The mass disappearances throw the world into chaos, and the sinisterly compelling Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), head of the U.N., selflessly steps in to help broker peace among the world's nations. But is he as good intentioned as he seems?

Turns out the appropriately named Mr. Carpathia is behind a plot to rule the world and control its food supply, and intrepid reporter Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron, better than you'd expect) is onto him--with a little help from some biblical prophecies. Suffering the problem that befalls most first installments in a series of books and movies, Left Behind busies itself with the task of introducing characters and setting up expository plot lines, and audiences may be frustrated by the lack of action--Rayford's somewhat labored crisis of faith takes up a good chunk of the film. Still, it's an intriguing premise that should satisfy fans of the novel and possibly pick up a few more converts along the way (be warned, though, this is a modestly budgeted film that looks more like a cable TV movie than the latest James Bond extravaganza). And, if like a fair number of the film's characters, you can't figure out that someone named "Nicolae Carpathia" is a bad guy, then, well, you need to bone up on your evil villains. --Mark Englehart

Left Behind II - Tribulation Force
Arguably the most interesting and compelling feature in the Left Behind trilogy, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force finds the series' major characters--television journalist Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron), passenger jet captain Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson), his daughter Chloe (Janaya Stephens), and Pastor Bruce Barnes (Clarence Gilyard)--forming the core of a group dedicated to infiltrating and disrupting operations of the Anti-Christ, i.e., Nicolae Carpathia (a scary Gordon Currie), who has become leader of a world government. Meanwhile, humankind looks increasingly desolate and bleak, as the reality sinks in that hundreds of millions of people who suddenly vanished--including all the world's children--in the last film are not coming back. Veteran television director Bill Corcoran makes much of his scant resources to paint an apocalyptic vision, and when the film gets to indulge in some nifty effects (a pair of fire-breathing prophets--literally), the result is powerful. Drama, relationships, character development, and performances are quite smooth and should appeal to Christian and non-Christian viewers alike. --Tom Keogh

Left Behind - World at War
Third in a series of films based on the bestselling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind: World at War finds the post-Rapture Earth an even bleaker place than in the previous movies. As the Antichrist himself, Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), uses his newfound powers as head of the world government to bring war and plague on every nation, the American president (Louis Gossett Jr.) teams with a Christian resistance fighter (Jessica Steen) to try to stop him. Meanwhile, series hero Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) discovers that Carpathia's biological front in a coming apocalypse is particularly devious: Freshly published Bibles are carrying a deadly disease ravaging thousands--and may very likely claim Buck's new bride. Buck's father-in-law, pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson), has problems of his own facing the not-inconsiderable temptations of former flight attendant Hattie Daniels (Chelsea Noble), now one of Carpathia's many lovers. Directed by Craig R. Baxley (Rose Red), Left Behind: World at War is particularly crisp and effective drama, even when the action stops, as it often does, for many of the principals to pray for guidance. Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables), not seen often enough these days, has a brief but powerful part as the U.S. vice-president. --Tom Keogh

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JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Seventh Season

Actors: David James Elliott, Catherine Bell, Patrick Labyorteaux, John M. Jackson, Chuck Carrington
ASIN : B001CQONNQ
Sales Rank : 1216
Director : Bradford May, Dennis Smith, Greg Beeman, Harvey S. Laidman, Hugo Cortina
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097361391946
UPC : 097361391946
Release Date : December 04, 2008
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 1020

Album Description

JAG (Judge Advocate General) is an elite legal branch of military officers trained as lawyers who investigate, prosecute and defend those accused of crimes in the military, including murder, treason and terrorism. Navy Cmdr. Harmon "Harm" Rabb, an ace pilot turned lawyer, and Marine Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, a beautiful and strictly by-the-book officer, are colleagues, both with similar high standards, that often find themselves clashing with one another as they take different routes to solve cases. Assisting them with their mission is Navy Lt. Bud Roberts, a lawyer who often surprises his superiors with the breadth of his knowledge, and their boss, the no-nonsense Admiral Chegwidden, a former Navy Seal.

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JAG: The Seventh Season is noteworthy for slightly better stories than usual, a somewhat less random selections of storylines than in previous years, and a connecting thread throughout the season concerning the relationship between Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. (David James Elliott) and Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell). Sure, their relationship has been the series' biggest tease for some time. But now it's on the front burner following resolution of the cliffhanger "Adrift" as the season's opener. At the end of season six, Harm was lost in the middle of a stormy ocean following a problem in the jet he was co-piloting. His disappearance postpones the date for Mac's wedding to Brumby (Trevor Goddard), but Brumby picks up in Mac's anxiety over Harm's predicament something more than anxiety over a friend. His suspicions confirmed, Brumby heads home to Australia, leaving Mac and Harm (once he's rescued) in need of an important conversation. (On his end of things, Harm's longtime girlfriend marries someone else.) The state of things between JAG's two leads is a mystery throughout The Seventh Season, but that uncertainty gives an extra zing to many different episodes, such as penultimate story "In Country," in which Mac and Harm are lost together in rural Afghanistan.

"New Gun In Town" introduces a new character, Commander Sturgis Turner (Scott Lawrence), to the show, an old friend and professional rival of Harm's. While Turner and Harm take opposite sides in a case, Mac and "Gunny" Galindez (Randy Vasquez) take overlapping assignments aboard an aircraft carrier, giving Mac a chance to get away from her problems. Relief doesn't last long, however, when Harm shows up on the carrier to defend a marine charged with negligent homicide. "Guilt" is a harrowing drama about an outbreak of violence against a U.S. embassy in Indonesia, a scary situation in which Mac is immersed while trying to protect a local girl whose mother works for the consulate. "Mixed Messages" is another fine drama, this one about an old buddy of Harm's who is suspected of selling submarine intelligence to the Chinese. "Redemption" is a complex, interesting tale in which Harm defends another old friend against charges of fraternization, only to uncover what appears to be more serious evidence of espionage. Complicating matters is that the defendant seems wholly uncooperative in the investigation--as if he were protecting someone else. "Tribunal" is the timely story of a U.S. military tribunal passing judgement on a suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist. The twist is that Harm and Mac's boss, Admiral Chegwidden (John M. Jackson), must join Turner in defending the suspect. The season finale, "Enemy Below," continues the theme with a story about Al-Quaeda bribing a Russian submarine commander to launch an attack against the U.S. --Tom Keogh

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Jumper

Actors: Hayden Christensen, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse James
ASIN : B00177Y9ZC
Sales Rank : 907
Brand : Jumper
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543519652
UPC : 024543519652
Release Date : December 10, 2008
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 88

Description

David is a Jumper who can teleport himself anywhere in the world, which creates a fun and exciting life. But things turn deadly when David finds himself pursued by a secret organization sworn to kill Jumpers. Forming an uneasy alliance with another Jumper he becomes a player in a war that has been raging for thousands of years.

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As preposterous action movies go, Jumper is pleasantly unpretentious and breezily entertaining. A young man named David (Hayden Christensen) discovers he has the power to teleport (or "jump") anywhere he can visualize. After using this power to steal and make a comfortable life for himself, he pursues the girl he longed for in school (Rachel Bilson, The O. C.). But as he does so, another jumper (Jamie Bell, Billy Elliot) and a pack of fanatical jumper-hunters called paladins (led by a white-haired Samuel L. Jackson) crashes into David's freewheeling life. Jumper wastes no time trying to explain how jumping works or delving into the hows and whys of the paladins; this is an alluring fantasy of power directed at a pell-mell pace by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Go). There's a brief moment when it feels like the movie will bog down in romance and vague gestures towards character development--happily, that's the moment when Bell appears and the whole movie shifts into overdrive. You might wish that Bell and Christensen had swapped roles; Bell has a far more engaging personality, and Christensen's bland good looks might better suit a more aggressive character. Nonetheless, Jumper has oodles of dynamism and nifty visual effects to propel its comic-book storyline forward. A variety of recognizable actors in bit parts (such as Diane Lane and Kristen Stewart, Panic Room) suggest that the filmmakers are laying the groundwork for sequels. Based on a critically-acclaimed science-fiction novel by Steven Gould. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Jumper

More from Steven Gould
The Jumper Soundtrack
More from Fox

Stills from Jumper

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The Patriot (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]

Actors: René Auberjonois, Adam Baldwin, Chris Cooper, Jason Isaacs, Tchéky Karyo
ASIN : B000PAAJVA
Sales Rank : 896
Brand : Sony
Studio : Columbia Pictures
Region Code : 0
Format : Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0043396167186
UPC : 043396167186
Release Date : December 03, 2007
Publisher : Columbia Pictures
Manufacturer : Columbia Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Columbia Pictures
Running Time : 174

Product Description

In 1776 South Carolina, widower and legendary war hero Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) finds himself thrust into the midst of the American Revolutionary War as he helplessly watches his family torn apart by the savage forces of the British Redcoats. Unable to remain silent, he recruits a band of reluctant volunteers, including his idealistic patriot son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), to take up arms against the British. Fighting to protect his family's freedom and his country's independence, Martin discovers the pain of betrayal, the redemption of revenge and the passion of love.

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Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichés and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop.

On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon

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Father Goose

Actors: Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard, Jack Good (II), Sharyl Locke
ASIN : B00005N910
Sales Rank : 1497
Director : Ralph Nelson
Studio : Republic Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780782011203
ISBN : 0782011209
UPC : 017153100815
Release Date : December 18, 2001
Publisher : Republic Pictures
Manufacturer : Republic Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Republic Pictures
Running Time : 118

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Cary Grant's penultimate feature before retirement was this cheerful 1964 effort to overturn his career-long image of urbane sophistication. As the unshaven, messy misanthrope Walter Eckland, a World War II-era beach bum who monitors Japanese air activity for the Australian navy in exchange for booze, Grant makes a convincingly hard-bitten, hard-drinking antihero. Until, that is, a pretty French schoolmistress (Leslie Caron) and her seven little charges (all girls) survive a nearby plane crash and invade Eckland's raunchy isolation. Directed by 1960s hit-maker Ralph Nelson (The Lilies of the Field, Charly), Father Goose is a glossy comedy that also does justice to its more suspenseful scenes (a deadly snakebite suffered by Caron's character is especially memorable) and leaves plenty of room for Grant to indulge in some entertaining if atypical screen behavior. All in all, this is a minor treat in the actor's magnificent filmography. --Tom Keogh

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The Sopranos - The Complete Fourth Season

Actors: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Steve van Zandt
ASIN : B00008PW1F
Sales Rank : 1166
Director : Dominic Chianese, Allen Coulter Tim Van Patten
Brand : SOPRANOS
Studio : HBO Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783123790
ISBN : 0783123795
UPC : 026359908125
Release Date : December 28, 2003
Publisher : HBO Home Video
Manufacturer : HBO Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : HBO Home Video
Running Time : 800

Description

It's tough times in Jersey for Tony Soprano. The sluggish economy hasn't been good for the family business. His wife Carmela is angling for more financial security. Some longtime lieutenants aren't happy with Tony's recent decisions. A rival boss wants a bigger piece of the suburban pie. A Sopranos is actually heading to trial for the first time in decades. At least one child seems to have lost interest in higher education. And the ducks aren't coming back anytime soon. PROGRAM INFORMATION Number of Episodes: 13 1. For All Debts Public & Private 2. No -Show 3. Christopher 4. The Weight 5. Pie O My 6. Everybody Hurts 7. Watching Too Much Television 8. Mergers & Acquisitions 9. Whoever Did This 10. The Strong Silent Type 11. Calling All Cars 12. Eloise 13. Whitecaps

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Carmela to Tony: "Everything comes to an end." True enough, Mrs. Sope, but on The Sopranos, the end comes sooner for some than others. Though for some the widely debated fourth season contained too much yakking instead of whacking, and an emphasis on domestic family over business Family, what critic James Agee once said of the Marx Brothers applies to The Sopranos: "The worst thing they might ever make would be better worth seeing than most other things I can think of." And in most respects, The Sopranos remains television's gold standard. The fourth season garnered 13 Emmy nominations, and subsequent best actor and actress wins for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco as Tony and Carmela, whose estrangement provides the season with its most powerful drama, as well as a win for Joe Pantoliano's psychopath Ralph. The season finale, "Whitecaps," was a long-time-coming episode, in which Carmela at last stands up to "toxic" Tony, and "Whoever Did This" was the season's--and one of the series'--most shocking episodes.

Other narrative threads include Christopher's (Emmy nominee Michael Imperioli) descent into heroin addiction, Uncle Junior's (Dominic Chianese) trial, an unrequited and potentially fatal attraction between Carmela and Tony's driver Furio, and a rude joke about Johnny Sack's wife that has potentially fatal implications. Other indelible moments include Christopher's girlfriend Adriana's projectile reaction to discovering that her new best friend is an undercover FBI agent in the episode "No Show," Janice giving Ralph a shove out of their relationship in "Christopher," and the classic "Quasimodo/Nostradamus" exchange in the season-opener, which garnered HBO's highest ratings to date. Freed from the understandably high expectations for the fourth season, heightened by the 16-month hiatus, these episodes can be better appreciated on their own considerable merits. They are pivotal chapters in television's most novel saga. --Donald Liebenson

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300 (Widescreen Edition)

Actors: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan
ASIN : B000QXDED6
Sales Rank : 1546
Director : Zack Snyder
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569736627
UPC : 012569736627
Release Date : December 31, 2007
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 116

Description

The epic graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City) assaults the screen with the blood, thunder and awe of its ferocious visual style faithfully recreated in an intense blend of live-action and CGI animation. Retelling the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, it depicts the titanic clash in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army. Experience history at swordpoint. And moviemaking with a cutting edge.

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Like Sin City before it, 300 brings Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's graphic novel vividly to life. Gerard Butler (Beowulf and Grendel, The Phantom of the Opera) radiates pure power and charisma as Leonidas, the Grecian king who leads 300 of his fellow Spartans (including David Wenham of The Lord of the Rings, Michael Fassbender, and Andrew Pleavin) into a battle against the overwhelming force of Persian invaders. Their only hope is to neutralize the numerical advantage by confronting the Persians, led by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), at the narrow strait of Thermopylae.

More engaging than Troy, the tepid and somewhat similar epic of ancient Greece, 300 is also comparable to Sin City in that the actors were shot on green screen, then added to digitally created backgrounds. The effort pays off in a strikingly stylized look and huge, sweeping battle scenes. However, it's not as to-the-letter faithful to Miller's source material as Sin City was. The plot is the same, and many of the book's images are represented just about perfectly. But some extra material has been added, including new villains (who would be considered "bosses" if this were a video game, and it often feels like one) and a political subplot involving new characters and a significantly expanded role for the Queen of Sparta (Lena Headey). While this subplot by director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and his fellow co-writers does break up the violence, most fans would probably dismiss it as filler if it didn't involve the sexy Headey. Other viewers, of course, will be turned off by the waves of spurting blood, flying body parts, and surging testosterone. (The six-pack abs are also relentless, and the movie has more and less nudity--more female, less male--than the graphic novel.) Still, as a representation of Miller's work and as an ancient-themed action flick with a modern edge, 300 delivers. --David Horiuchi

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Star Wars - Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)

Actors: Ewan McGegor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson
ASIN : B00005JLXH
Sales Rank : 855
Director : George Lucas
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543203094
UPC : 024543203094
Release Date : December 01, 2005
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 140

Product Description

The Star Wars saga is now complete on DVD with Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH. Torn between loyalty to his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi and the seductive powers of the Sith Anakin Skywalker ultimately turns his back on the Jedi thus completing his journey to the dark side and his transformation into Darth Vader. Experience the breathtaking scope of the final chapter in spectacular clarity and relive all the epic battles including the final climactic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan.System Requirements:Starring: Ewan McGregor Natalie Portman Hayden Christensen Ian McDiarmid Samuel L. Jackson Christopher Lee Directed By: George Lucas Running Time: 140 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543203094 Manufacturer No: 2230309

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Ending the most popular film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image)

It's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). On another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) leads the Republic's clone troops against a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the first half of Episode III, which feels a lot like Episodes I and II. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGI-created Grievous can't match up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.

But then it all changes.

Star Wars Time Line (click for larger image)

After setting up characters and situations for the first two and a half movies, Episode III finally comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living under a rock the last 10 years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with his mentor, but that doesn't matter. In fact, a great part of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because Episode III is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what happens and who it happens to.

Episode III is easily the best of the new trilogy--OK, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six Star Wars films. It's also the first one to be rated PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. It was probably impossible to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the first two movies), but Episode III makes us once again glad to be "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." --David Horiuchi

The Complete Star Wars Saga

Episodes 4-6 Trilogy (widescreen)
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episde II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2
The Star Wars Store

Stills from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (click for larger images)

Anakin
When Wookiees attack

Yoda, Jedi master
Mr. and Mrs. Vader

Saber training with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen
The cast

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