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New Price: $39.90

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Actors: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Alan Howard, Noel Appleby, Sean Astin
ASIN : B000067DNF
Sales Rank : 1469
Director : Joel Gallen, Michael Pellerin, Peter Jackson
Brand : WOOD/MCKELLEN/MORTENSEN/ASTIN/LE
Studio : New Line Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780780638471
ISBN : 0780638476
UPC : 794043554926
Release Date : December 12, 2002
Publisher : New Line Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : New Line Home Entertainment
Label : New Line Home Entertainment
Running Time : 208

Description

Not seen in theaters, this unique version of the epic adventure features over 30 minutes of new and extended scenes integrated into the film by the director.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
Documentaries
Interactive Menus
Interviews
Introduction
Multiple video angles
Other
Photo gallery
Production Sketches
Storyboards

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In every aspect, the extended-edition DVD of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring blows away the theatrical-version DVD. No one who cares at all about the film should ever need to watch the original version again. Well, maybe the impatient and the squeamish will still prefer the theatrical version, because the extended edition makes a long film 30 minutes longer and there's a bit more violence (though both versions are rated PG-13). But the changes--sometimes whole scenes, sometimes merely a few seconds--make for a richer film. There's more of the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, embodied in more songs and a longer opening focusing on Hobbiton. There's more character development, and more background into what is to come in the two subsequent films, such as Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship and Aragorn's burden of lineage. And some additions make more sense to the plot, or are merely worth seeing, such as the wood elves leaving Middle-earth or the view of Caras Galadhon (but sorry, there's still no Tom Bombadil). Extremely useful are the chapter menus that indicate which scenes are new or extended.

Of the four commentary tracks, the ones with the greatest general appeal are the one by Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and the one by 10 cast members, but the more technically oriented commentaries by the creative and production staff are also worth hearing. The bonus features (encompassing two complete DVDs) are far superior to the largely promotional materials included on the theatrical release, delving into such matters as script development, casting, and visual effects. The only drawback is that the film is now spread over two discs, with a somewhat abrupt break following the council at Rivendell, due to the storage capacity required for the longer running time, the added DTS ES 6.1 audio, and the commentary tracks. But that's a minor inconvenience. Whether in this four-disc set or in the collector's gift set (which adds Argonath bookends and a DVD of National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), the extended-edition DVD is the Fellowship DVD to rule them all. --David Horiuchi

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Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films gave "double-dipping"--releasing a DVD then releasing an improved version shortly afterward--a good name by offering both a better film and stupendous extras in the Extended Editions. This "triple-dip" 2006 Limited Edition falls far short of that standard but is still of interest to devoted and casual fans.

What do you get?
Both the theatrical and extended versions of The Fellowship of the Ring are on one double-sided disc. The versions use seamless branching, meaning that the scenes that are common to both versions are stored on the disc only once. If you choose to watch the extended version, the disc "branches" out to the added or extended scenes. What does this mean to the viewer? Not much. The viewing experience is the same because the branching is imperceptible. But because both versions of the film don't have to be stored on the disc in their entirety (which would be six and half hours total), both versions together fit on two sides of one disc. The downside is that whichever version you watch, you have to flip over the disc halfway through; the film breaks at the same spot it did on the Extended Edition, right after the council at Rivendell. Also lost are the meager features included on the theatrical edition, plus the four commentary tracks, two discs of bonus features, and DTS 6.1 ES sound from the four-disc Extended Edition.

What's new?
The second disc has an 85-minute documentary directed by Costa Botes, who was personally selected by Peter Jackson. Rather than the formal documentary structure of other editions, it consists of off-the-cuff interviews with Peter Jackson, Alan Lee, and others, and random bits of behind-the-scenes action and special-effects work. Those who have worked their way through the many hours of bonus content on the other editions might recognize some of this footage, such as the Hobbit actors mocking whichever of them is not around, then greeting him warmly when he shows up. Other things--Liv Tyler riding a fake horse, a snowfall during shooting, interviewing the rank-and-file cast members, touring Peter Jackson's trailer--seem new. And some bits seem geared to those who've watched the other material--for example, some of the visual tricks explained there are only glimpsed without explanation here. It's entertaining, but because there's no structure (there are chapters, but no menu or chapter listing), it's not as convenient to watch, and go back to, as a documentary broken up into bite-size pieces. Oddly, the documentary is in widescreen, but not anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. Note: New Line Home Entertainment couldn't release this material on its own a là the King Kong Production Diaries due to contractual restrictions.

Bottom line: Do you need this edition?
This Limited Edition combination of theatrical and extended versions plus new documentary seems likely to appeal to two camps. One is the devoted fan, who already owns both editions but has to have everything LOTR. The other is the casual fan who liked the movie in theaters, heard good things about the Extended Edition, and doesn't need a ton of bonus material. This edition is attractively priced for that buyer, and the packaging is quite handsome. In between is the devoted fan who already owns both editions but doesn't feel the need to watch more bonus material. When watching the whole movie, that fan will always choose the Extended Edition, but keeps the theatrical edition for (1) watching with guests, (2) the music video, or (3) the convenience of skimming through favorite scenes without having to change discs. That fan can safely skip this edition, as can home-theater fans who love DTS. --David Horiuchi

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Turistas (Unrated Edition)

Actors: Miguel Lunardi, Melissa George, Desmond Askew, Josh Duhamel, Olivia Wilde
ASIN : B000N3AW6G
Sales Rank : 6396
Director : John Stockwell
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543428787
UPC : 024543428787
Release Date : December 27, 2007
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 96

Description

Rising star Josh Duhamel (TV's Las Vegas) leads a group of young backpackers who find themselves stranded on a remote Brazilian beach; an exotic paradise, with warm sunshine, cool ocean breezes, and plenty of hot bodies. But, after a night of partying, the wayward turistas are drugged and robbed, and their dream vacation becomes a gruesome nightmare. Trapped and desperate, the vulnerable travelers are lured deep into the menacing jungle and beyond, where a dark and twisted fate too terrifying to imagine awaits.

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If not for Hostel, we'd never have been treated to the gory, horrific delights so lovingly captured with sadistic detail in Turistas. Together, these movies could be spawning a radical new Hollywood-pedigreed sub-genre of extreme horror. Like Hostel, Turistas concerns a group of American hardbodied kids on an exotic foreign vacation--this time in Brazil. After a suspense-filled opening sequence of a speeding bus careening off a dangerous mountain (it's also tinged with just the right kind of humor), the kids wander into the seeming paradise of a secluded beachfront resort where they think nothing of locals who lure them one by one to their gruesome and shocking deaths. Hey, they're here to party! These excruciatingly graphic scenes unfold in the lair of a madman doctor named Zamora, who harvests organs of the still-living as a way of exacting revenge on American turistas to "give back" to the locals they exploit with their capitalist dollars. One such scene has the donor undergoing surgery without the help of anesthesia wherein the lovely young "patient" has the chance to see her still thriving innards pulsing warmly on her well-formed chest to the tune of her own screams. This stuff is not for the faint of heart (or liver, or kidney, or lungs, for that matter). But there is a fair amount of nicely staged tension, especially a "foot" chase scene in a water-filled cave that will give claustrophobics a whole new way to experience nightmares. The two most familiar faces are Melissa George and Josh Duhamel, from TV's Alias and Vegas respectively. Fans of this new world of extreme gross-out horror should be thankful that TV has plenty of cute young bodies waiting for their big screen break, no matter how many organs they have to donate to get there. --Ted Fry

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Armageddon

Actors: Ben Affleck, Clark Heathcliffe Brolly, Steve Buscemi, Ken Hudson Campbell, Keith David
ASIN : B00000G3PA
Sales Rank : 965
Brand : WILLIS,BRUCE
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781558909007
ISBN : 1558909001
UPC : 717951000842
Release Date : December 05, 1999
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Running Time : 150

Description

From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.

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The latest testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid- fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy

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Gremlins 2 - The New Batch

Actors: Phoebe Cates, Ron Fassler, Kathleen Freeman, Zach Galligan, John Glover
ASIN : B000067FP8
Sales Rank : 1825
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Bros. Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790769738
ISBN : 0790769735
UPC : 085392271122
Release Date : December 20, 2002
Publisher : Warner Bros. Pictures
Manufacturer : Warner Bros. Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Bros. Pictures
Running Time : 106

Description

Billy Peltzer and Kate Beringer move to New York City and meet up with their Mogwai friend, Gizmo, when a series of accidents creates a new generation of diverse gremlins. Billy, Kate, and Gizmo must once again use all their experience to prevent another catastrophe.

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Zach Galligan, the star of the first Gremlins, is back, along with Phoebe Cates, his girlfriend from the first film. They're both working in an ultramodern skyscraper owned by a Donald Trump clone (a hilarious John Glover). Galligan's furry little buddy is captured by a mad scientist, who not only helps it multiply, but invests the nasty, scaly offspring with intelligence and the ability to talk. (Watch for the one that has Tony Randall's voice.) What follows is imaginative mayhem that spoofs old movies, modern television, and the conveniences of postmodern technology. In some ways, the sequel is even more inventive and laughter-inducing than the original. --Marshall Fine

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Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition)

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August
ASIN : B00003CX5P
Sales Rank : 1370
Director : George Lucas
Brand : NEESON,LIAM
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543023937
UPC : 024543023913
Number Of Discs : 2
Release Date : December 22, 2005
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 133

Description

Begin your STAR WARS DVD collection with STAR WARS: Episode 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE. Packed with over six hours of additional material, including exclusive documentaries and never-before-seen deleted scenes, this 2-disc set provides the perfect showcase for the incredible detail and breathtaking scope of George Lucas's first episode in the mythic STAR WARS saga.

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"I have a bad feeling about this," says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most anticipated cinematic event... well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can't help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers' expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them. And as with all the Star Wars movies, The Phantom Menace features inexplicable plot twists, a fistful of loose threads, and some cheek-chewing dialogue. Han Solo's swagger is sorely missed, as is the pervading menace of heavy-breather Darth Vader. There is still way too much quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo, and some of what was fresh about Star Wars 22 years earlier feels formulaic. Yet there's much to admire. The special effects are stupendous; three worlds are populated with a mélange of creatures, flora, and horizons rendered in absolute detail. The action and battle scenes are breathtaking in their complexity. And one particular sequence of the film--the adrenaline-infused pod race through the Tatooine desert--makes the chariot race in Ben-Hur look like a Sunday stroll through the park.

Among the host of new characters, there are a few familiar walk-ons. We witness the first meeting between R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt looks younger and slimmer (but not young and slim), and Yoda is as crabby as ever. Natalie Portman's stately Queen Amidala sports hairdos that make Princess Leia look dowdy and wields a mean laser. We never bond with Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan's day is yet to come. Jar Jar Binks, a cross between a Muppet, a frog, and a hippie, provides many of the movie's lighter moments, while Sith Lord Darth Maul is a formidable force. Baby-faced Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) looks too young and innocent to command the powers of the Force or wield a lightsaber (much less transmute into the future Darth Vader), but his boyish exuberance wins over skeptics.

Near the end of the movie, Palpatine, the new leader of the Republic, may be speaking for fans eagerly awaiting Episode II when he pats young Anakin on the head and says, "We will watch your career with great interest." Indeed! --Tod Nelson

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Return to Oz

Actors: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, Matt Clark
ASIN : B0000DZ3EN
Sales Rank : 1227
Director : Walter Murch
Brand : BALK,FAIRUZA
Studio : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936233780
UPC : 786936233780
Release Date : December 03, 2004
Publisher : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Running Time : 113

Description

If you loved THE WIZARD OF OZ, you'll love accompanying Dorothy on this second thrilling adventure based on L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books! Dorothy finds herself back in the land of her dreams ... and makes delightful new friends (like Tik Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the Gump) ... and dangerous new enemies (the creepy Wheelers, the head-hunting Princess Mombi, and the evil Nome King). With every twist in the yellow brick road, you'll find awesome new surprises and special effects that will astound you!

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You don't fool with Mother Nature, spit into the wind, remake Casablanca, or trash the land of Oz. Perhaps that is why the 1985 live-action sequel split critics and audiences alike. The 1939 classic musical is so beloved that it's almost impossible to imagine seeing Dorothy in shock therapy, a crumbled yellow brick road, the ruins of Emerald City, and the Tin Man turned into stone. But L. Frank Baum, the author of the original Oz books, portrayed just that with his continuing stories of Dorothy. When you get by these tough facts, the film version is solid entertainment for the over-7 set.

Dorothy (a 10-year-old Fairuza Balk in her debut) is back in Kansas, where Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) is at the end of her rope: her niece is not sleeping and going on about a place called Oz. Therapy may be the answer, but luckily the scary clinic goes dark before Dorothy can be, er, cured (but the lead-up will scare the munchkins out of most kids). She wakes up in the land of Oz, now in tatters, and searches for its king, the Scarecrow. A new set of friends, including a tin soldier, a talking chicken, and a pumpkin man, help her against new villains, including Princess Mombi (Jean Marsh)--complete with a set of detachable heads--and the evil Nome King (Nicol Williamson with a great assist from Will Vinton's Claymation). The sole directorial effort of Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch is stuffed with marvelous effects that foreshadow later works by Tim Burton and the Henson non-Muppet films. --Doug Thomas

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

Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Winona Ryder
ASIN : B0000VCZK2
Sales Rank : 1585
Director : David Fincher, James Cameron, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ridley Scott
Brand : ALIEN QUADRILOGY
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : DTS Surround Sound, Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, Dolby, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543098478
UPC : 024543098478
Release Date : December 02, 2003
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 145

Description

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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The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc boxed set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here they have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and picture. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years, this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "special edition" form.

Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 director's cut is fiddling for the sake of fiddling. Watch it once, then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely, the special edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice to finally have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien 3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered, and finished off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien: Resurrection (1997) always was a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the special edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

The Alien Quadrilogy offers the first and fourth films with DTS soundtracks, the others having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary track that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here.

Each movie is complemented by a separate disc packed with hours of seriously detailed documentaries (all presented in full-screen with clips letterboxed), thousands of photos, production stills, and storyboards, giving a level of inside information for the dedicated buff only surpassed by the Lord of the Rings extended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including an hourlong documentary and even all the extras from the old Alien laserdisc. "Exhaustive" hardly beings to describe the Alien Quadrilogy, a set that establishes the new DVD benchmark for retrospective releases and looks unlikely to be surpassed for some time. --Gary S. Dalkin

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1408 (Full Screen Edition)

Actors: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub, Len Cariou
ASIN : B000TJ6PBU
Sales Rank : 4519
Director : Mikael Håfström
Studio : Weinstein Company
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0796019805315
UPC : 796019805315
Release Date : December 02, 2007
Publisher : Weinstein Company
Manufacturer : Weinstein Company
Availability : Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Label : Weinstein Company
Running Time : 104

Description

(Thriller) Based on a short story by Stephen King, a man who specializes in debunking the paranormal checks into the infamous room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, only to discover… the terror is real.

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As creepfests go, 1408 is right up there with The Shining, also inspired by a Stephen King work and featuring a menacing hotel and the wobbly sanity of a writer lodging there. "It's an evil [bleep]-ing room!" intones Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the smooth but vaguely sinister manager of the Dolphin Hotel. John Cusack is stellar as Mike Enslin, a cynical Everyschlub who writes "occult travel guides," but believes in nothing, especially anything resembling an afterlife.

What happens in room 1408 of the Dolphin may change Enslin forever--if he survives the first hour. The thrills range from jumpy "gotcha" moments involving mirror images, to more traditional horror fare like bleeding walls, to truly diabolical touches like the recurrence of the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun." (Shudder.) The film does a nice job of weaving the operatic horror effects with the truly heart-breaking backstory of the death of Enslin's young daughter and his marriage--perhaps the only two things Enslin has ever believed in. And thankfully, there's just enough humor to leaven the intensity at key moments; Cusack is unparalleled when it comes to delivering a self-deprecating wisecrack, even as his life passes before his eyes. Get your adrenaline pumping and check into this room. Oh, and sorry, no refunds. A.T. Hurley

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I Am Legend (Full-Screen Edition)

Actors: Will Smith, Richardson, Braga, Pollack
ASIN : B0013FFMOK
Sales Rank : 2336
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929008292
UPC : 883929008292
Release Date : December 18, 2008
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 100

Description

Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable, and man-made. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.

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Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson’s central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbors who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith’s Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time--and after enduring a personal tragedy--Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease.

The film’s first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence’s extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It’s impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages. Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don’t look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson’s vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith’s remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film’s latter half goes too far in portraying Smith’s Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into bathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

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Grindhouse Presents, Planet Terror - Extended and Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Actors: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Marley Shelton
ASIN : B000UAE7O0
Sales Rank : 1543
Director : Robert Rodriguez
Brand : Planet
Studio : The Weinstein Company
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0796019803878
UPC : 796019803878
Release Date : December 16, 2007
Publisher : The Weinstein Company
Manufacturer : The Weinstein Company
Label : The Weinstein Company
Running Time : 105

Description

(Horror) A fun zombie film that busts at the seams with gross special effects, amazing action, and deliciously over-the-top moments, as gun-legged Cherry Darling and one man wrecking crew El Wray try to save the world from a horde of flesh-eating zombies.

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Loud, fast, and proudly out of control, Grindhouse is a tribute to the low-budget exploitation movies that lurked at drive-ins and inner city theaters in the '60s and early '70s. Writers/directors Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) cooked up this three-hour double feature as a way to pay homage to these films, and the end result manages to evoke the down-and-dirty vibe of the original films for an audience that may be too young to remember them. Rodriguez's Planet Terror is a rollicking horror/sci-fi/action piece about a plague outbreak that turns citizens into cannibalistic murderers; it's heavy on the gore and explosions but also features a terrific cast of A players (Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, Marley Shelton) and B-movie vets (Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini) and the indelible image of Rose McGowan as a stripper whose torn-off leg is replaced by a high-powered machine gun.

If Tarantino's feature was a nod to the moody, genre-jumping exploitation of the early '70s, Rodriguez's contribution to the Grindhouse aesthetic pays tribute to the manic gorefests from Italy and the States in the early '80s. And much like the film itself, the supplemental features on Terror's double-disc Extended and Unrated presentation have a loose, action-packed and familial vibe that gives fans full access to Rodriguez's one-man-studio approach to moviemaking. The director is featured twice on audio tracks: first, on the feature commentary, which provides a fun tour through the picture's production (as well as information on the upcoming Grindhouse DVD set, which will reunite the two pictures in their theatrical format), and later on the "10-Minute Film School," a fascinating breakneck run through the numerous visual and CGI effects that produced the film's most eye-popping effects, including McGowan's leg/machine gun. Most of the extras echo Rodriguez's informative and entertaining vibe--two featurettes cover the picture's male and female cast (the former offers affectionate tributes to the exploitation vets in the company, including Biehn, Fahey, Michael Parks, and Savini), while "Casting Rebel" is an amusing discussion of how Rodriguez came to bring his own son into the movie, as well as his refusal to disclose the fate of Rebel's character. "Sickos, Bullets, and Explosions" takes a look at Terror's extensive special effects through interviews with stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw and members of the visual effects team, while "The Friend, The Doctor, and The Real Estate Agent" chats with three non-actors, all pals of Rodriguez, who wound up with small but significant roles in the picture. The Extended and Unrated aspect of the set is limited to a few extended scenes and extra splatter (sorry, the infamous "Missing Reel" is not recovered for this set), while Grindhouse fans bemoaning the absence of the film's hilarious faux trailers will appreciate the inclusion of Rodriguez's hilarious Machete spot, with Danny Trejo as a death-dealing, lady-loving tough guy gunning for double-crosser Fahey. The set also includes an "Audience Reaction" track: Essentially, it's a whole track of whoops and hollers that allows the viewer to "experience" the film as if they were watching it in an actual grindhouse from back in the day. Its inclusion neither adds to or detracts from enjoying this DVD, but it's wholly indicative of the level of fun Rodriguez had making the picture--and wants to share with his fans. -- Paul Gaita