What I Watched Last Night In HD/UHD etc (Review).

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Breakfast at Tiffanys (Paramount, region free - UK disc, part of The Audrey Hepburn Collection)

A pop culture touchstone for aspiring fashionista's, folk song classic lovers, future A-Team fanboys and casual racists alike, the depth of Capote's novel seems to make it to the screen broadly intact.

The central relationship between two gigolo's trapped in their depressing cycle of casual sex, huge amounts of cash and amazing parties (hang on...….) feels really nicely drawn and eerily real even if the world they exist in is anything but. Hepburn and especially Peppard draw their relationship together through little droplets of information about their lives as they criss-cross each other and its brilliant chemistry between them that holds the whole thing together.

It doesn't do a lot, but it does have a lot to say - about the shallow lives many were living heading into the Summer of Love and about those an awful lot older taking full advantage of this. And its all about that central two - Hepburn launches a thousand magazine covers with her flaky, ditzy clothes horse with HUGE sunglasses, while Peppard is, well, just trying to hang on for dear life frankly. While Hepburn gets a huge amount of backstory thanks to the sub-plot about her past life, Peppard isn't given the same amount to work with. But that's ok, because we get just enough of his writing ambition to know that he and Hepburn are made for each other.

The lovely rat-a-tat dialogue isn't quite up to the 40s screwball comedy level, but it does breathe life into these two potential stereotypes and throw in the single best performance in film by a ginger moggy (sorry Jonesy), its got that 'classic' stamp all over it - you know the one, you're told you're watching a 'classic', you don't want to believe its a 'classic', but goddamn it, you bloody well know it is.

It looked wonderful with some obvious care and attention put into a decent restoration and clean up - colours, detail, grain, all are here and its a heady brew of visual delight. Its not quite My Fair Lady or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang levels, but its pretty sumptuous, even blown up to 92". The lossless 5.1 track doesn't try and do too much either, just opening up the soundstage nicely. As for extras there's a boatload of them, the only ones I checked out were the look at it from the Japanese American perspective......yeah, its still not very pretty is it?

Summary - considering you can pick up three Hepburn classic for less than £8 at HMV, all with decent transfers and some nice extras, this is a must for fans of cultural touchstones of the 60s. This still works thanks to that adorable, if very Hollywood, central pairing. I'm off to throw my ginger moggy out in the rain and see how he greets me when I go pick him up...….o_O
I don't think they get away with the Mickey Rooney character these days. :eek:
 
A triple bill of action cinema's past and present this weekend, with some interesting results...…...

XXX (Sony, region free - UK disc)

For a film that tries to show how different it is from Bond with its not very clever opening (showing a tuxedo'd spy meeting his untimely demise at a Rammstein gig), its amazing how slavishly it sticks to the classic Bond template - suave, confident super spy, with a car packed full of gadgets, has to stop a terrorist group who has an underground lair and a gormless spaceship-styled superweapon that needs destroying to save the ever-so-misogynist world.

But man, as to the whole 'extreme' angle.....sigh........its about as extreme as an accountant at a conference. After a couple of shandies. Point Break was way more extreme and all Swayze needed was a bloody mullet. All the tats, skateboards, industrial music and 'sports' styled action scenes do not 'extreme' make. And the film is now a hilariously outdated relic to a time we thankfully very quickly grew out of. Deisel is ok, but his scary face eating with Asia Argento (who we all know is way scarier than anyone involved with this film) remains the thing that haunts nightmares.

The action scenes are ok, with a pleasing emphasis on practical effects, but its constant attempts to try and justify to us how 'extreme' it all is is just laughable. Not worth a revisit, unless you want to see where the F&F franchise could so easily have gone...…..be thankful for huge bloody mercies!

The disc looks ok (this is the 15th anniversary, remastered edition) and sounds ok - its not one of Sony's best looking catalogue titles, but detail and colours are all ok and expected for a film of this vintage. The lossless 5.1 track is mostly front focused, but has some pleasing AV moments of surround activity and LFE (the avalanche scene in particular).

Summary - about the best thing I can say is its infinitely better than its sequels...…...

Charlie's Angels (2000, Sony, region free - UK disc, part of the Angel's twin pack)

From just a couple of years earlier, the complete antithesis - one of the most feminist movies ever made, this remains a massive dose of knowing nods (pop culturally and otherwise), huge amounts of fun and a an approach that many films today could do with learning a thing or to from.

The approach McG took - day-glo colours, split-screens, you name it its all thrown in here - pays off a treat as it wrong foots us all from the start. Sure, its very good looking central threesome spend most of the film in some form of skimpy outfit, gyrating at both the audience and the legion of dumb men-folk that line up to be taken down by our heroines...….but it knows this and it cocks a snook at it all by acknowledging that yes, the world we live in can be hugely sexist.

And these women know this and play the idiot menfolk, including us in the audience, like a cheap fiddle. And most importantly, the film does it in a way that doesn't instantly set the audience's teeth on edge like every single goddamn interview Emma Watson ever does where she preaches from her pulpit of sanctimonious piousness about 'women' (has anyone read her interview in last month's Empire? The only interview in that I've ever skipped it was so toe curlingly bad...…..).

The film is a perfect example of a game cast having a huge amount of fun (even the wire-covered action scenes carry this over, with us not caring a jot that none of this is remotely possible in the real world) and still able to convey a string message. Like Josie and the Pussycats, when are Hollywood gonna wake up to the fact that messages don't have to be carried in serious, po-faced films that are so woke it hurts...…..

Or have I just got this wrong and its just a leering male fantasy dressed up to throw modern a women a bone (sorry)?

The picture isn't great on this to be honest - its soft as hell and the whites are massively blown out (in the mainframe sequence especially). Given the 4K disc is getting rave reviews I can only assume this is from the original master from a hundred years ago. The lossless 5.1 track is better.

Summary - a superbly entertaining film that can be enjoyed on every level. Great cast and a wonderful tone shows how an old TV show can be rebooted into something different and infinitely better. Bust of a disc though...…..I'll defo grab the 4K version when it comes down in price.

Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw (Universal, region free - UHD, UK disc)

Almost the perfect mix of the two, this exhausting, overlong slugfest scrapes a pass thanks to the chemistry of its four leads.

Pilfering the plot from the worst of the Mission Impossible movies isn't a good start, but once The Stath and The Rock start in on each other, you cant help but be entertained by the potty-mouthed (but not too much) bickering. Throw in a gloriously stunning Vanessa Kirby and Elba and his CG and real stunt doubles working for a huge pile of cash and its vacuous stuff.

But the action scenes have a swagger to them that almost dares us to not be entertained by them. Taking its cue from the tone of the rest of the film, they are as preposterous as they are joyful - the helicopter/car chain of the Samoa-set finale almost stretches things to breaking point but even then, a moment of pure Rock-ness brings it all round and we're punching the air before our brains have stopped to think about what we've just seen.

Mirren, Marsan, Reynolds, Hart.....even the cameos are all in on the gag and thank god, because there's no way you can make a modern day action spectacular like this without the nods and winks. Sure its stupid, but for most of last week, so was I. So that's alright then. Utterly enjoyable tosh.

The UHD is very good but not quite up there with the best. Great detail and rich colours are the cornerstone of the image, while obnoxiously loudly mixed music is the backbone of the Atmos track. Its as brash and stupid as the film itself.

Summary - looking back at the early 00s, thank god we seem to have embraced the tone started into by Charlie's Angels and not Deisel's po-faced and hideous 'extreme' bro-dude one. Now if we could have had this be 1 hour 45 mins, it would have been a classic...…...
 
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:thumbsup:Once upon a time in...Hollywood Blu Ray Projected.

Finally, we have Tarantino's 9th Film. Its nothing new that a tarantino flick will bring about controversy, mixed reviews and that marmite flavour. Well I love controversy and love marmite.:smashin:.

Ok, its a slow burner, but aren't they all? I have always enjoyed the pacing of his films, I just sit there and soak it all up, trying to figure out which angle the film is coming from. It also helps that a tarantino film always looks good, with fine attention to detail, period settings and unique camera work. Mrs N sat with me on this, but was not as impressed as I was.

DiCaprio and Pitt are just excellent, and from what has been said about pitt stealing the show, DiCaprio is right there with him imo. So DiCaprio plays a washed up actor, looking for work, and pitt is his Stuntman/ Best friend/ PA/ Driver lol. The chemistry is spot on, its like they are true best friends, through thick and thin, looking for work in Hollywood, we are taken on a timeless tour, set in the late 60s. the hippy movement is strong, love and peace man, but its the intertwining stories of a certain set of people that start to raise the interest levels. The Manson cult were out and about as was Roman Polanski, in true Trantino style, theres a trio of stories and how they all cross paths, just like in the classic Pulp Fiction. Theres lot sof random driving about, lots of unrelated chit chat, but I was trying to explain to mrs n that the story is mainly about 60s movement and DiCaprio/pitt are the backdrop, with extra elements added into enjoy, that's the way I saw it.

Theres the classic Trantino dialogue levels/ chit chat that I love when its delivered so expertly, yep, half of it leads to nothing, bit its just awesome to watch and listen to. DiCaprio had me in stiches when he starts giving himself a good telling off, cursing himself in the trailer. Then theres the pitt and famous martial arts expert meeting, I will say no more..

the 2nd half of the film starts to pick up though, theres some great cameos from some of my favourite people, which I loved. Theres a far more sinister feel during certain parts, the errie feel of a dusty village where brad pitt is seemingly lured to, I felt some tension during this part, things are so drawn out, but so watchable man!! and it leads nicely to its conclusion, theres not a lot violence, but when it comes, it comes in true tarantino fashion, and I bloomin loved it.


PQ from the blu ray disc is very nice, the 60s have never looked so good, thanks to the excellent shooting style, from all the period vehicles to pitts cool sunglasses and levis jeans, every little detail is overseen, from shop signs, to the look of the towns. detail is excellent, from looking at the gorgeous face and legs of Margot Robbie, and yes, theres a lot of leg looking going on lol, to the ageing brad pitt but still in excellent shape, fine detail is easy to make out and theres a slight fine grain if I remember correctly. Sunlight blasts across the city giving everything in its path a rich golden tone to it. I mean, who else could make me enjoy watching pitt pouring dog food into a bowl lol, that's right, I'm not going to lie or try and hide it, I'm a tarantino fan boy. I'm actually contemplating getting rid of the Blu Ray and upgrading it to the 4k to watch it on the projector again. I actually watched the last half hour again after it finished, because I freaking loved it lol.

SQ, Its a shame there was no immersive audio on the film, but I see tarantino as a bit of a purist, the DTS HD track is fine though, as expected, its a dialogue heavy film, but the track does a fine job, throw in some trademark 60s music, decent surround steering and effects when called upon. car engines have decent bite and grumble, punches and gunshots have nice levels of LFE and a certain flame propelled gadget engulfs the listening area, all in all, a very nice soundtrack.

I really think this worth a watch, you will love it or hate it. I personally really enjoyed it, and as long as it is and takes its time to get going, I just find it intriguing and will certainly be watching several more times, hopefully on 4K next time, noting wrong with the blu at all.
 
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The Godfather = Best. Film. Ever. (IMHO)

Maybe it has a little to do with perspective.

The point could be argued that there are "better" films than Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters, Halloween or Alien, but very few films since have had the impact on me that they did when I saw them as new releases in the cinema and I watch them today with the same loyalty, possibly while wearing my middle-aged rose tinted spectacles :D
I think art is subjective. It opens for different interpretations. I wouldn't make comparisons with other films and label one of them as the best. Each has its own feathers. But I should say The Godfather is one of my favorites.
 
:thumbsup:Once upon a time in...Hollywood Blu Ray Projected.

Finally, we have Tarantino's 9th Film. Its nothing new that a tarantino flick will bring about controversy, mixed reviews and that marmite flavour. Well I love controversy and love marmite.:smashin:.
[...]

I really think this worth a watch, you will love it or hate it. I personally really enjoyed it, and as long as it is and takes its time to get going, I just find it intriguing and will certainly be watching several more times, hopefully on 4K next time, noting wrong with the blu at all.
Thanks! Wholeheartedly agree... easily one of the best movies of the year for me, and I'm not even a Tarantino fan boy :)
Between this and Ad Astra, Brad Pitt has been on a roll.
Both movies look great in 4k HDR by the way, with Ad Astra having the edge in PQ. Once upon... doesn't come with an object-based audio track, but doesn't really need it IMHO. Atmos on Ad Astra is great though.
 
The Haunting of Hill House (Blu-ray) 2018

So this is one of the reasons why I have been 'quiet' in terms of reviews here lately (any old excuse will do right? ;) ). Has it been worth my time? Well...

I heard loads of good things about this Netflix series but I don't need the added distraction of Netflix so rented the series on Blu-ray instead. What we have here is a reimagining of Shirley Jackson's classic book which was adapted to great effect in The Haunting (1962) - easily one of my favourite horror films and certainly one that helped define the haunted house genre. Could this top a classic favourite of mine?

Well....early days in the series I had high hopes. It starts very well. There is an almost bewildering cast of characters but I soon worked out who was who despite getting a bit confused as some of the cast looked fairly similar. Linear this isn't. In fact this becomes a bit of a problem as the series goes on. It jumps back and fore in time so much it actually begins to annoy you. And the monologues....oh the monologues.... :rolleyes:. Anyway, it starts like a rocket and I was totally glued to the screen early days. And then...not so much. It soon becomes apparent that this is a family drama set in a haunted house rather than a horror tv series. And there are some bits in the series that frankly wouldn't look out of place in one of those awful daytime tv dramas that your elderly auntie probably watches. Almost soap opera like at times. And yet....there are scares here. And some original scares too. Its riveting at times and at other times I was watching the clock big time. A conundrum indeed! The acting is excellent for the most part, especially the child actors who are superb. The effects are excellent too. There are a fair few plot holes and even more plot conveniences but I can get past that. Some of the other stuff? Not so much. This certainly borrows from other stuff namely The Shining, The Haunting (naturally) and The Dead Zone. All of which are superior to this...

I was expecting the PQ to be excellent for a new production like this and...it wasn't. Maybe I have been spoilt by some excellent 4K releases lately but this wasn't great at all. Elevated black levels right from the off. A gauzy soft look to all of it (not just the earlier time setting which you would expect) doesn't help. I actually thought I had my TV on the wrong setting once or twice (which I cannot remember thinking before). I had a quick look at the other site's PQ review and I really don't know where they got that rating from. Poor. When I put the TV back on normal TV after one watch, the broadcast TV PQ seemed better than this Blu-ray! The AQ may 'only' be a 5.1 lossless track but it upscales very nicely and certainly bursts into life at times with some really great surround and subwoofer action that really feels disorienting at times - in a good way! The dialogue was great and I never felt the need to switch the subtitles on to catch what was said.

Summary? I have to mark this down as a letdown to be honest! And to think I nearly blind-bought this - if I had, I'd be moving it on as we speak as I never want to see this again. What really capped it off for me was the ending - so BAD I was actually laughing at the screen (and not in a good way!). Its a shame because I like the director and a LOT of this is very good. But a lot of it really isn't too. I think this one has been overhyped quite a bit in all honesty. Not bad. If I had to guess I'd say they were aiming this at the largest demographic they could. Which is fine if you aren't fussy but some of us are...

Series 7/10 (I'm being generous, I was actually thinking 9 early doors but that came right down towards the end!)
PQ 6/10
AQ 9/10
 
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The Invisible Man Returns/The Invisible Woman (Universal, region free - US disc, part of The Invisible Man Legacy Collection)

Two very different sequels to the classic original and both falling way short of the mark I'm afraid, as both try to take the formula (natch) of the first and inject it into different genres of film.

The first sequel opens with Vincent Price on Death Row for murdering one of his employees at the colliery he owns. One not-so-mysterious vanishing trick later, he's escaped and on the run in an attempt to find the real killer.

What should be a pacey whodunnit is little more than a plodding VFX showcase. We know after the fist few minutes who the killer is and unfortunately there's too much time spent on this leaden plot element and not enough time on Price - we're told he's going mad, but aside from a few cackles, there's little in the way of glorious character insanity that Claude Rains showed in the first film. If anything, this bears more in common with Verhoeven's Hollow Man than the first film does, with a showcase becoming visible scene and the use of animals to test antidotes being the highlights, replacing any decent character work and a sense of delicious foreboding.

To be fair, the VFX does stand up and a final chase through the pit at least brings some much needed energy to the whole thing. But its a real disappointment after the wonderful first film - Price is woefully underutilised and the rest of the cast are as unfortunately anonymous as our titular character.

But its a masterpiece compared to the second sequel. For some insane reason, Universal decided to go down the romantic comedy route with this one and its a risible failure on every level. The titular protagonist answers a newspaper ad to become invisible and given that she's a brattish fashion model, within this first act you can clearly see everything that's wrong with this take on the subject.

The humour fails miserably and instead of the potential of a classic screwball comedy and all that entails, the film throws a ridiculous subplot at us about criminals wanting to steal the now invisibility machine to use for nefarious means - its all so thinly sketched, there are no outstanding setpieces, the VFX is dialled down noticeably from the previous film and most crucial, its not amusing in the slightest. Again, this has all the hallmarks of a later take on the subject, complete with all its mistakes - this time its Carpenter's and Chevy Chase's take on the subject. Just poor.

With both films on one disc, they both looked pretty good (am without projector again so its 43" LCD time again......boo). Detail and contrast were both spot on and even though the old VFX work softens things up a touch, both still look very good. Lossless mono tracks are clean as a whistle and while there are no extras on this disc, given the the questionable quality of both films, I cant say I'm that bothered.

Summary - of all the Legacy collection sets, the drop in quality between first film and its immediate sequels is far greater in this set unfortunately. The first sequel is passable but just ignore the second one completely - it took me five attempts to get through its 72 min runtime......…..
 
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The Bishops Wife blu Ray
One of the most beautiful, enchanting and meaningful movies ever made.
 
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The Purge 4k uhd blu ray projected.

Finally get to watch this on 4k, managed to pick the 4k trilogy up on black Friday.

I think for me,.this is the best of the rest, i really like the premise, and certainly wouldn't put the good old US of A past doing this for real at some point lol. It's simple, for 12 hours, every single year, people get vent their frustration, annoyances, hatred for everyone and everything, for these 12 hours, Murder is legal!!!

The more i sit and think about it, the crazier it sounds, murder is legal!! You don't need to be a police officer or in the military , the government sees fit for you to purge!!, regardless of age, gender or race, if you've got the urge, its time to purge..damn, my talents are wasted, what a tag line that is lol.

So here we go, we follow Ethan Hawke, who i really like in this, he's a good old fashioned family man, lives in a beautiful neighbourhood, with a fantastic home, but the street has that fake " hollywood" feel, where the only thing that seems to matter are material things, who has the nicest car? Biggest pool etc, and this is made evident during the early scenes. Ethan sells security systems and apparently half the neighbourhood have invested in said security, but it's not gone unnoticed that Mr hawke has a nice new extension on his house. What a perfect market to be involved in also, especially during the annual purge, selling security systems, where there's violence, there's also money to be made!!

i really like the tone of the film, it's pretty tense, as soon as the sun starts to descend, doors are locked, windows bolted and the shutters go down. Needless to say, it's going to be a long 12 hours, you might be thinking the king is in his castle,. Snug and safe,with all the modified security systems, but never take things for granted, most things are penetrable..

PQ, wow, i was rather very happy with this,.for some reason, i wasn't expecting such a clean looking disc, especially when the majority is set at night, it looked excellent projected in 4k. Detail is prominent, from.every pore on faces and hsir follicles, to hair strand separation. Blacks are great and shadow detail is also lovely, colours certainly pop, check Ethan's Son's lottle robot gadget, the colours of the leds against the dark backdrop really standout and are very well defined. Crimson blood oozes a deep satisfying dark red, it just glistens lol. All in all, very happy with the PQ.

SQ again, an upgraded soundtrack to compliment the PQ, in the form of a rambunctious DTS-X soundtrack, dialouge is excellent and on lock, easy to follow, sound effects are nicley aggressive, never OTT but vertainly hit hard and pack a punch. Check out the Sirens for the commencement of the purge, so life like and room filling, then the metalic shutters come down on Ethan Hawkes residence, leaving a hefty and satisfying LFE thump as they engage with the locking mechanism. There's excellent surround steering as bullets let rip, excellent clarity and realism. This is a certain upgrade over the DTS-HD track.

Really looking forward to the other films now that I've watched this. Its also a certain upgrade for both PQ and SQ, happy with the purchase.
 
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The Bishops Wife blu Ray
One of the most beautiful, enchanting and meaningful movies ever made.
Of the many years on this Earth I only saw this for the first time a few years ago.
A non trailer trailer for the film.
Anybody else think the first shot looks a bit like an early scene in Psycho.

 
Birdy (Indicator, region B - UK disc)

A fascinating look at friendship and the impact of war from Alan Parker.

Matthew Modine and Nic Cage are two friends both affected after coming home from Vietnam - Modine has retreated into a world of mute silence where he think's a he's an actual bird, while Cage is swathed in bandages having had his face blown off in an explosion. The film follows their meeting in an asylum where Modine is incarcerated and flashes back to show how their friendship formed and how it came to affect both in the present.

While its light on plot or narrative, it does a great job of showing two young men, one handsome, virile, the picture of American masculinity, one meek, possibly already suffering with mental health issues, slowly become friends. Both actors convince totally, with Cage especially showing how he can channel that manic intensity of his more modern performances into something a lot subtler and affecting.

Their relationship ebbs and flows pre-war, with moments of victory for one (Cage scoring with a girl he's just met) and then the other (Modine railing against Cage's father about selling their car, something Cage, with all his bravado could never do), showing how they come to depend on each other, almost two halves of the same person. All of which feeds into the modern narrative element of Cage desperately trying to connect with Modine to save them both.

Brilliant performances, an anti-war message that doesn't rely on war to show its impacts (similar in this respect to The Deerhunter), a haunting Peter Gabriel soundtrack and finally, Parker giving us technical wizardry (the dream flight) to match the emotions on screen. Hugely recommended.

The transfer is soft and grainy, but you know its as it should be. Colours are muted to match the authentic palette of 50's Philadelphia, but there's no print damage or digital shenanigans to clog up the organic filmlike goodness on show. The lossless stereo track matrixes the dialogue channel perfectly and its locked to the centre channel. The rest is decent, with music sounding rich and full and the soundstage opening nicely when it needs to (the Vietnam scenes especially). There are rafts of decent extras including a new 25 min interview with Modine, 12 mins with Gabriel, 12 mins with director Keith Gordon offering insight into adapting the author's work as he did with another of his novels and a host of other goodies (audio commentary, marketing materials, etc).

Summary - its brilliant. That's all you need to know. The disc is another belter from Indicator so stick it on your Christmas lists one and all.
 
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Robocop (Director's Cut - Arrow steelbook)

Your move, creep!

You a good cop, hot shot? Well, sure you are. Why, you gotta be some kind of... GREAT cop to come in here all by yourself.

Can you fly, Bobby?

Well, I guess we're gonna be friends after all... Richard.

I say good business is where you find it.


I could have filled a review or two just with quotes from this classic. Seriously. There's so many good lines I gave up looking at them all and had to limit myself to those above! Well what can I possibly add about this one? Easily one of the best action film of the 1980s (and there's some competition there!) and a film that also easily stands up very well today thanks to Verhoeven's great direction complemented perfectly by a terrific script and a perfect cast. This film is so damn tight! Not a minute is wasted here but you never feel like the film is rushing to get to the end. Peter Weller has never been better as the eponymous star of the film for my money. He just absolutely nails his character here. As does everyone else in the film. Nancy Allen as Lewis is perfect as Murphy's tough sidekick. Ronny Cox has never been better (or badder!) as Dick Jones or should I say...Richard. Dan O'Herlihy is great as the old man who isn't the kindly old grandpa he appears to be. And then there's a certain Clarence Boddiker (Kurtwood Smith) and his gang. When we first saw this years ago we just couldn't believe how downright nasty and vicious Kurtwood Smith is in this film - surely one of the best bad guys of all time. And he's got a good line in really black humour too which just rounds him off. His gang are all perfect in their roles and its still so weird to see Ray Wise as one of the henchmen given his later role in Twin Peaks (or maybe not that weird ;) ).

There's just no weak link in this film. Not only has it got a big slice of action, a small slice of sci-fi and a slice of drama as well....its also got a good line of satire and makes a great statement about the capitalist society of 1980s America, amplifying it just a bit and showing us what the future could really hold in an all too plausible way. The adverts and news breaks that break up the action are perfectly pitched and hilarious whilst being knowingly discomforting at the same time. There is no point looking for weak points - they aren't any. Possibly the only thing would be the stop motion effects for the ED-209 sequences - which would no doubt be handled by CGI today. Yes they look dated now of course but its all part of the charm for me. When I first saw this film it was pretty obvious to me where some of the inspiration was from - especially when Robocop says "your move...creep" - I think the scriptwriters certainly read one or two Judge Dredd stories and I remember saying at the time...maybe they could make a Judge Dredd film like this?! (I had to wait a long time for a decent one though....;) ).

The earlier blu-ray wasn't bad at all, very good in fact, and I did wonder how much better this new Arrow remaster could be. The answer? Well its certainly an improvement. I did a quick compare with the old blu-ray and there is certainly more grain here (grain-haters beware!) and of course that means more detail which is what we get. Colour looked spot on to me. There is certainly more detail on offer here and the black levels are spot on. Its not night and day difference but the difference is certainly there so you Robocop fans need to upgrade. The only downside of course is that nagging feeling in the back of your mind saying "What would the 4K look like?!". I cannot see this looking better in standard HD but a 4K transfer could well improve things. Obviously the PQ takes a bit of a dive on the added DC elements but even these look better than the previous release. The AQ appeared to me to be the same 5.1 lossless track from the last Blu-ray release. It sounds very good upscaled with some good surround but is obviously limited by the film's age etc. Its never going to sound as good as a new action film release for sound effects - for instance the many gun sounds sound rather brittle compared to the sound effects of a newer film. That great music still sounds excellent of course and really drives things along.

Summary? One of the best action films of all time gets an upgraded release here. Arrow pull out all the stops yet again and this steelbook is a thing of beauty - already one of my favourite steelbooks. Arrow have also added many extras which I have started ploughing through when I can. This is a MUST BUY for any proper collection and only a proper 4K release is going to beat this. Just a shame Arrow aren't doing this just yet. Great stuff!

Film 9.5/10
PQ 9/10
AQ 8.5/10
 
:thumbsup:Once upon a time in...Hollywood Blu Ray Projected.

Finally, we have Tarantino's 9th Film. Its nothing new that a tarantino flick will bring about controversy, mixed reviews and that marmite flavour. Well I love controversy and love marmite.:smashin:.

Ok, its a slow burner, but aren't they all? I have always enjoyed the pacing of his films, I just sit there and soak it all up, trying to figure out which angle the film is coming from. It also helps that a tarantino film always looks good, with fine attention to detail, period settings and unique camera work. Mrs N sat with me on this, but was not as impressed as I was.

DiCaprio and Pitt are just excellent, and from what has been said about pitt stealing the show, DiCaprio is right there with him imo. So DiCaprio plays a washed up actor, looking for work, and pitt is his Stuntman/ Best friend/ PA/ Driver lol. The chemistry is spot on, its like they are true best friends, through thick and thin, looking for work in Hollywood, we are taken on a timeless tour, set in the late 60s. the hippy movement is strong, love and peace man, but its the intertwining stories of a certain set of people that start to raise the interest levels. The Manson cult were out and about as was Roman Polanski, in true Trantino style, theres a trio of stories and how they all cross paths, just like in the classic Pulp Fiction. Theres lot sof random driving about, lots of unrelated chit chat, but I was trying to explain to mrs n that the story is mainly about 60s movement and DiCaprio/pitt are the backdrop, with extra elements added into enjoy, that's the way I saw it.

Theres the classic Trantino dialogue levels/ chit chat that I love when its delivered so expertly, yep, half of it leads to nothing, bit its just awesome to watch and listen to. DiCaprio had me in stiches when he starts giving himself a good telling off, cursing himself in the trailer. Then theres the pitt and famous martial arts expert meeting, I will say no more..

the 2nd half of the film starts to pick up though, theres some great cameos from some of my favourite people, which I loved. Theres a far more sinister feel during certain parts, the errie feel of a dusty village where brad pitt is seemingly lured to, I felt some tension during this part, things are so drawn out, but so watchable man!! and it leads nicely to its conclusion, theres not a lot violence, but when it comes, it comes in true tarantino fashion, and I bloomin loved it.


PQ from the blu ray disc is very nice, the 60s have never looked so good, thanks to the excellent shooting style, from all the period vehicles to pitts cool sunglasses and levis jeans, every little detail is overseen, from shop signs, to the look of the towns. detail is excellent, from looking at the gorgeous face and legs of Margot Robbie, and yes, theres a lot of leg looking going on lol, to the ageing brad pitt but still in excellent shape, fine detail is easy to make out and theres a slight fine grain if I remember correctly. Sunlight blasts across the city giving everything in its path a rich golden tone to it. I mean, who else could make me enjoy watching pitt pouring dog food into a bowl lol, that's right, I'm not going to lie or try and hide it, I'm a tarantino fan boy. I'm actually contemplating getting rid of the Blu Ray and upgrading it to the 4k to watch it on the projector again. I actually watched the last half hour again after it finished, because I freaking loved it lol.

SQ, Its a shame there was no immersive audio on the film, but I see tarantino as a bit of a purist, the DTS HD track is fine though, as expected, its a dialogue heavy film, but the track does a fine job, throw in some trademark 60s music, decent surround steering and effects when called upon. car engines have decent bite and grumble, punches and gunshots have nice levels of LFE and a certain flame propelled gadget engulfs the listening area, all in all, a very nice soundtrack.

I really think this worth a watch, you will love it or hate it. I personally really enjoyed it, and as long as it is and takes its time to get going, I just find it intriguing and will certainly be watching several more times, hopefully on 4K next time, noting wrong with the blu at all.

Couldn’t agree more, Mr.N.

Bought the 4K HMV steel of this over the weekend, after missing it at the cinema. A near 3 hour trip practically flew by.

My film of the year. Hands down.
 
Couldn’t agree more, Mr.N.

Bought the 4K HMV steel of this over the weekend, after missing it at the cinema. A near 3 hour trip practically flew by.

My film of the year. Hands down.
Cheers James, i actually watched this again yesterday, its grew on me even more.

I absolutely love Di Caprio in this.
 
Cheers James, i actually watched this again yesterday, its grew on me even more.

I absolutely love Di Caprio in this.

Yep. I thought the 2 main characters were outstanding.

I’ve always been a sucker for the old school sharp deliverance wit. The likes of Pryor, Murphy and Samuel Jackson have always been firm favourites of mine.
Tarantino has always seemed to have had this kind of approach in his dialogue.

That, along with the amazing cinematography throughout the whole movie (something else I always look out for) just totally won me over.

Don’t get me started on his dress room pep talk scene. I was in stitches:D
 
Birdy (Indicator, region B - UK disc)

A fascinating look at friendship and the impact of war from Alan Parker.

Matthew Modine and Nic Cage are two friends both affected after coming home from Vietnam - Modine has retreated into a world of mute silence where he think's a he's an actual bird, while Cage is swathed in bandages having had his face blown off in an explosion. The film follows their meeting in an asylum where Modine is incarcerated and flashes back to show how their friendship formed and how it came to affect both in the present.

While its light on plot or narrative, it does a great job of showing two young men, one handsome, virile, the picture of American masculinity, one meek, possibly already suffering with mental health issues, slowly become friends. Both actors convince totally, with Cage especially showing how he can channel that manic intensity of his more modern performances into something a lot subtler and affecting.

Their relationship ebbs and flows pre-war, with moments of victory for one (Cage scoring with a girl he's just met) and then the other (Modine railing against Cage's father about selling their car, something Cage, with all his bravado could never do), showing how they come to depend on each other, almost two halves of the same person. All of which feeds into the modern narrative element of Cage desperately trying to connect with Modine to save them both.

Brilliant performances, an anti-war message that doesn't rely on war to show its impacts (similar in this respect to The Deerhunter), a haunting Peter Gabriel soundtrack and finally, Parker giving us technical wizardry (the dream flight) to match the emotions on screen. Hugely recommended.

The transfer is soft and grainy, but you know its as it should be. Colours are muted to match the authentic palette of 50's Philadelphia, but there's no print damage or digital shenanigans to clog up the organic filmlike goodness on show. The lossless stereo track matrixes the dialogue channel perfectly and its locked to the centre channel. The rest is decent, with music sounding rich and full and the soundstage opening nicely when it needs to (the Vietnam scenes especially). There are rafts of decent extras including a new 25 min interview with Modine, 12 mins with Gabriel, 12 mins with director Keith Gordon offering insight into adapting the author's work as he did with another of his novels and a host of other goodies (audio commentary, marketing materials, etc).

Summary - its brilliant. That's all you need to know. The disc is another belter from Indicator so stick it on your Christmas lists one and all.

Thanks Coz,will have to compare my US one with UK one,sound wise,the US one great P/Q,not so good S/Q.

:)
 
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney, region free - UHD, US disc)

Homework for......you know.

I still stand by my initial review - I love the key themes of revolution/change that Johnson introduced across the board; and together with some brilliant staged pieces of pure cinema (the Pretorian Guard showdown, the jump to Hyperspace and the finale on Crait), I thought this a far more satisfying film than the great looking and sounding but ultimately hollow greatest hits package that The Force Awakens was.

On this third watch, the issues that the film has for me - the stupid humour (which isn't the same as that found in the OT, no matter what anyone says) and most of Canto Bight (which felt like it existed purely to ram home the film's themes for those who couldn't pick them up from elsewhere) - felt penned into the first act, which meant they're all out of the way by the time we head towards those stunning setpieces of the second/third act. But the richness and depth to those themes and how cleverly they're portrayed - Ren and Luke both wanting the exact same thing (to tear down the current order and establish a new one), revolution within the rebellion that ultimately proved the wrong choice and the brilliant character work that now links Ren and Rey - prove to be the film's huge legacy, one which unfortunately not enough people were sold on as being a good thing.

I just hope that Abrams doesn't jettison all this for Part IX as it would be such a shame.

Interestingly on my recently calibrated and now damn near perfect projector, the disc isn't the AV home run expectations had it as...........but then again, no Star Wars film is. Looking like it was shot on film (not sure if it was, IMDB helpfully doesn't make it clear), it shuns the ultra clean look one might have expected it to be, giving the image a sense of depth that is the trade off for presence of grain (real or not) and a lack of perceived sharpness. It certainly LOOKS like the other SW films from a transfer perspective, and while it may not initially impress as other modern blockbusters can do, it looks very good, especially with those rich primaries looking as good as they do. The Atmos track still disappoints though - being hugely front focused, it simply can't compete with the dynamics and soundstage of say the recent Endgame disc ,itself, not the biggest and baddest of modern soundtracks. Here is where a SW movie should shine and this one just doesn't, even when turned up to more appropriate volumes. Such a shame.

Summary - shoot me, I love this film, far more than TFA and I just hope that JJ doesn't walk back all the good work done in here in favour of a more traditional ending to the saga. The disc is decent from an visual perspective but the weak Atmos track still rankles. Tickets booked for Sunday morning, I'm starting to get a bit giddy now.........
 
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney, region free - UHD, US disc)

Homework for......you know.

I still stand by my initial review - I love the key themes of revolution/change that Johnson introduced across the board; and together with some brilliant staged pieces of pure cinema (the Pretorian Guard showdown, the jump to Hyperspace and the finale on Crait), I thought this a far more satisfying film than the great looking and sounding but ultimately hollow greatest hits package that The Force Awakens was.

On this third watch, the issues that the film has for me - the stupid humour (which isn't the same as that found in the OT, no matter what anyone says) and most of Canto Bight (which felt like it existed purely to ram home the film's themes for those who couldn't pick them up from elsewhere) - felt penned into the first act, which meant they're all out of the way by the time we head towards those stunning setpieces of the second/third act. But the richness and depth to those themes and how cleverly they're portrayed - Ren and Luke both wanting the exact same thing (to tear down the current order and establish a new one), revolution within the rebellion that ultimately proved the wrong choice and the brilliant character work that now links Ren and Rey - prove to be the film's huge legacy, one which unfortunately not enough people were sold on as being a good thing.

I just hope that Abrams doesn't jettison all this for Part IX as it would be such a shame.

Interestingly on my recently calibrated and now damn near perfect projector, the disc isn't the AV home run expectations had it as...........but then again, no Star Wars film is. Looking like it was shot on film (not sure if it was, IMDB helpfully doesn't make it clear), it shuns the ultra clean look one might have expected it to be, giving the image a sense of depth that is the trade off for presence of grain (real or not) and a lack of perceived sharpness. It certainly LOOKS like the other SW films from a transfer perspective, and while it may not initially impress as other modern blockbusters can do, it looks very good, especially with those rich primaries looking as good as they do. The Atmos track still disappoints though - being hugely front focused, it simply can't compete with the dynamics and soundstage of say the recent Endgame disc ,itself, not the biggest and baddest of modern soundtracks. Here is where a SW movie should shine and this one just doesn't, even when turned up to more appropriate volumes. Such a shame.

Summary - shoot me, I love this film, far more than TFA and I just hope that JJ doesn't walk back all the good work done in here in favour of a more traditional ending to the saga. The disc is decent from an visual perspective but the weak Atmos track still rankles. Tickets booked for Sunday morning, I'm starting to get a bit giddy now.........
I pretty much agree with all that Coz though I still prefer TFA. I hope this thread doesnt get taken over now though...;)
 
I agree wholeheartedly with that review, we are settling down to this tonight ready for part 9 at 9.30am in the morning 😁
 
The Hard Way (Universal, region free - UK disc)

At the height of Hollywood's fascination with the buddy cop genre, we got the ultimate film - an actual Hollywood buddy cop movie: a magnificently mulleted Michael J Fox is the pampered screen action star, desperate for a role with some grit - so he deposits himself on James Woods' grizzled NYC cop in the middle of a serial killer hunt for experience to help inform a potential upcoming role and mirth and merriment ensues........

As far as pairings go, its a bit of a doozy: Fox is a slightly older Marty McFly, all bumbling energy, his pampered actor shtick nicely getting right up Woods' tough as nails, emotionally closed off detective. Their relationship works pretty much because Woods hates Fox from the get go and it never really lets up. The bickering is nicely barbed and the balance between the two never tips over into unnecessarily mean spirited or too broad a farce, thanks to the two actors bringing their A games to this.

The plot has some nice, if not unexpected bumps in the road - Woods can't connect with his girlfriend, Stephen Lang's very odd killer has just enough personality too him to make him more than just a plot beat for our lead pair to navigate and Badham directs with just enough balls to land a few knowing winks at Hollywood's expense.

Its a decent watch without ever tipping over into all out action/comedy classic of the period, but Woods and Fox are a great pair and their biting snark is a definite highlight.

The disc is completely bereft of extras, but the transfer is surprisingly decent - its grainy as hell, but it looks ok (not frozen or digital in any way), with pleasing detail levels and colours that don't look too far from nicely realistic. There is one scene where a host of thin vertical blue lines cover a chunk of the picture as noticeable print damage, but its gone before you start to get annoyed. But other than that this is a decent but not spectacular transfer. The lossless 2.0 track matrixes nicely to the centre and rears and the jazzy score has enough depth to it to keep audiophiles happy.

Summary - a knowing, meta genre nod? Or the ultimate sign of Hollywood disappearing up its own behind? Either way, its entertaining as hell thanks to Fox and Woods. And for a disc that is in HMV's bargain bin for £3.99 it certainly hit the spot.
 
The Invisible Agent (Universal, region free - US disc, part of The Invisible Man Legacy Collection)

Another genre hop for this third sequel and this time we're headlong into WWII propaganda movie - a cold open sees Nazi spies try and steal the invisibility formula (back to a formula now after it was a machine in the last film. Huh) from a mysterious American printer before the now revealed family member of Claude Rains' original inventor offers himself up to the US army for a behind enemy lines spying mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany.

And apart from the none-more-Armageddon stupidity of the upper echelons of the army allowing a printer who is invisible to do the job rather than turn an actual spy invisible, we're straight into rip-roaring classic spy thriller territory, complete with a is-she-isn't-she-a-Nazi blonde bombshell, boo-hissable Axis villains (including a karate move throwing Peter Lorre) and classic plot idiocy the likes of which you just have to accept otherwise you'd be throwing things through your TV (case in point: as our printer is parachuting into Germany, he starts off fully clothed on his descent, then while all manner of Nazi binoculars are trained on him, starts to disrobe mid-air, proudly announcing to all that an invisible spy is now on the loose, rather than, I don't know, parachuting in naked so no-one can see you? Or parachuting in fully clothed and turning naked once landed? Makes Armageddon's space drillers look positively intellectual.......).

It barrels along and unlike its previous sequels, it firmly keeps its genre front and centre so that it works as a spy thriller that just happens to star an invisible man, rather than try and make it an invisible man movie with spy thriller trappings that would have failed miserably. More steals from Hollow Man are here - the use of cold cream to show his face eerily echoes Bacon's latex mask - and come its end when the Nazi's are beaten, the gal is well and truly got and our now visible lead hasn't turned into a deranged psychopath like most of his predecessors have, its a thigh-slapping rollocking yarn of a flick that is far superior to the previous sequels, even if its losing more of what made the original so good in the first place.

Another decent presentation from Universal, given that there are two films on this disc. Its contrast is decent, detail is pretty good and there's no print damage at all. The lossless mono track does what it should and nothing more and there's nothing in terms of extras on this disc.

Summary - while quality is up over previous films, its still moving even further away from Rains' original so god knows where the film will land. Decent.......but not very Invisible Man-y.
 
Tonight's viewing.

An evening of vintage television with a festive flavour.

Bewitched: Sisters At Heart (1970). A 'Bewitched' Christmas episode that tackles racism and had the show's sponsors so jumpy that they had Elizabeth Montgomery film a special message for the audience before the episode commenced.

Tabitha wants to be sisters with her black friend and there ensues much magical switching of skin colours - black to white and white to black.



Bewitched.jpg


The Avengers: Too Many Christmas Trees (1965). Steed and Mrs Peel do Christmas in a deadly department store.

Avengers.jpg


The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II (1970). Lou Grant plays Grinch and makes Mary work in the newsroom on Christmas Day.

MTM.jpg


Smallville: Lexmas (2005). Lex Luthor does 'It's A Wonderful Life'. This is the only reason I'm hanging on to my HD-DVD player as Season 5 was never released on Blu Ray.

Smallville.jpg


Cheers: Christmas Cheers (1987). Rebecca makes everyone work on Christmas Eve and Frasier is in full 'Bah humbug!' mode.

Cheers.jpg


The Twilight Zone: Night of the Meek/But Can She Type?/ The Star (1985). A superb three in one Christmas episode from the '80s revival of the series . 'The Star' in particular is a killer!

Twilight.jpg


A Ghost Story For Christmas: The Signalman (1976). And into the wee small hours with a genuinely creepy adaptaion of Charles Dicken's tale, with the ever wonderful Denholm Elliot.

Ghost Stories.jpg
 
The Irishman on Netflix

Well I'm going against the grain with this one as I thought this was an over indulgent meandering waste of time.
I will admit that his grievous insulting comments about superhero films set me on edge so this gets both barrels.
I love Goodfellas but this is hours and hours of pointless minutia and left me bored witless.
And Martin this is not cinema as it happens, releasing it in seven or so picture houses so that it might qualify for the awards season is cynical.
 
7th Voyage of Sinbad

Used to love watching the Harryhausen films at Xmas so decided to watch this.

The story and acting were ok but the real reason for watching these are the stop motion effects. The Cyclops is brilliant - it looks dated obviously but the sheer amount of care that went into this gives it real character. Compare and contrast with some of the CGI rubbish of the modern era (not all CGI) where it seems to be enough just to chuck some graphics on the screen

Over 60 years old but still has a bit of magic about it - not as good as Golden Voyage but a very enjoyable watch.
 
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