Charlie’s Angels (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

The 2000 film “Charlie’s Angels” was a box office success and also brought the fun, sexy and kitschy elements of the TV series to the big screen.  If you were a big fan of the film, then you will probably enjoy the vibrant colors displayed on HD and also how much better the film sounds via lossless.

Images courtesy of © 2000 Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co. Movie KG. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Charlie’s Angels

DURATION: 98 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1), English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital,  Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures

RATED: PG-13 (For Action, Violence, Innuendo and Some Sensual/Nudity)

RELEASE DATE: August 3, 2010

Based on the TV series by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts

Directed by McG

Written by Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon, John August

Executive Producer: Joseph M. Caracciolo, Aaron Spelling, Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping

Producer: Drew Barrymore, Leonard Goldberg, Nancy Juvoven

Music by Ed Shearmur

Cinematography by Russell Carpenter

Edited by Peter Teschner, Wayne Wahrman

Casting by Justine Baddeley, Kim Davis

Production Design by J. Michael Riva

Art Direction by David F. Klassen, Richard F. Mays

Set Decoration by Lauri Gaffin

Costume Design by Joseph G. Aulisi

Starring:

Cameron Diaz as Natalie Cook

Drew Barrymore as Dylan Sanders

Lucy Liu as Alex Munday

Bill Murray as John Bosley

Sam Rockwell as Eric Knox

Kelly Lynch as Vivian Wood

Tim Curry as Roger Corwin

Crispin Glover as Thin Man

Matt LeBlanc as Jason Gibbons

LL Cool J as Mr. Jones

Tom Green as Chad

Luke Wilson as Pete Komisky

Sean Whalen as Pasqual

Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu star as the captivating crime-fighting trio who are masters of disguise, espionage and martial arts. When a devious mastermind embroils them in a plot to destroy individual privacy, the Angels, aided by their loyal sidekick Bosley (Bill Murray), set out to bring down the bad guys. But when a terrible secret is revealed, it makes the Angels targets for assassination.

Trailer

Long before director McG directed films such as “Terminator Salvation” and “We are Marshall” and before he would be executive producer for TV Shows such as “The O.C.”, “The Mountain” and “Fastlane”, McG was known for directing music videos for bands like Sublime and Korn.

But every director has their first start and for McG, his first theatrical debut was the 2000 film “Charlie’s Angels” based on the Aaron Spelling produced  ’70′s television show showcasing sexy women taking on various disguises in order to defeat crime while following their mystery boss Charlie.  Known for boosting the careers of Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd and many more women who took part in the show from 1976-1981.

Featuring actresses Cameron Diaz as Natalie Cook, Drew Barrymore as Dylan Sanders and Lucy Liu as Alex Munday, the three take on crime alongside Charlie’s assistant Bosley (played by Bill Murray), the three take on their latest mission to find the software genius Eric Knox (played by Sam Rockwell) who may have been kidnapped by Redstar owner Roger Corwin (played by Tim Curry).

While Bosley tries to get information from Corwin in regards to the whereabouts of Knox, the women follow the lead of going after a man who was was seen on surveillance videos ford kidnapping Knox, a man known as Thin Man (played by Crispin Glover).

Featuring action, sexiness, a variety of disguises and hair tossing, “Charlie’s Angels”, the film version continues the tradition of the popular TV shown for modern viewers and was a box office success earning over $264 million worldwide.

VIDEO:

“Charlie’s Angels” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1).  For anyone who remembers this film, because there were so many mini-segments, there were many times the film would emphasize reds, blues, blacks and for the most part, the HD presentation shows off the vibrant colors on Blu-ray.  Contrast levels are well-done, colors really pop, blacks are nice and deep and there is a good amount of grain.

The film definitely delivered when it came to set design, costume design and it helps that McG worked with a talented cinematographer, Russell Carpenter, who worked on films such as “Titanic” and “The Negotiator”.  This is a film that required various styles of footage and it helps to have an experienced cinematographer behind the camera.

If anything, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has proven to us within these past two years that they can take these past films and really make them shine on Blu-ray visually (and also via lossless audio).  Definitely a major improvement compared to its original DVD counterpart.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Charlie’s Angels” is presented in English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital.   The film definitely shines via lossless from the opening scene with the jet flying and the engines coming from the surround channels and also hearing it via LFE to the battle with Thin Man and hearing the fight sequences, steel against steel, windows crashing and hearing them quite nicely through the surround channels.  Dialogue is clear through the center channel and the film does sport a lot of contemporary music and may it be from Destiny’s Child to Blink-182, good amount of music as well.

Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Charlie’s Angels” comes with the following special features (in standard definition, English Stereo and subtitles in Spanish and Portuguese):

• Blu-ray exclusive movieIQ®+sync
• Commentary with Director McG and Cinematographer Russell Carpenter – An interesting commentary to listen to McG about his first major film and how it helped to work with an experienced cinematographer.
• Deleted Scenes – (4:42) Featuring three deleted scenes: Marco Polo!, The Men’s Room Extended, Extra Shake & Bake
• Outtakes & Bloopers – (2:39) Outtakes from “Charlie’s Angels” that were seen at the ending credits.
• Getting G’d Up – (6:32) An in-depth profile of Director McG and McG behind-the-scenes.  Film staff and talent talk about how they love working with McG and how energetic he is.
• The Master and the Angels – (7:25) A look behind the martial arts and stunts in the movie and working with world renown Cheung-yan Yuen and how much training the main talents had to go through to prepare for the film.
• Welcome to Angel World – (4:48) A behind-the-scenes look at the film’s set design with production designer J. Michael Riva.
• Angelic Attire: Dressing Cameron, Drew and Lucy – (3:25) Costume Designer Joseph G. Aulisi discusses the costumes for the film and how he styled each angel.
• Angelic Effects – (6:45) A discussion of the exciting special effects used throughout the film’s production.
• Wired Angels – (2:35) A scene deconstruction of the Chinese Alley scene and the wiring work used during filming
• Music Videos - Featuring  “Independent Women Part 1” by Destiny’s Child and  “Charlie’s Angels 2000” by Apollo Four Forty.

“Charlie’s Angels” is one of those films that you don’t take seriously and like the television series, you know it’s going to be a bit kitschy but with three sexy women kicking ass, you just sit back and enjoy no matter how crazy the film may get and hopefully, you find something fun or entertaining about it.

If anything, “Charlie’s Angels” is one of those films which is a straight-up action popcorn flick.   A film that you just don’t come in and watch it with any high expectations and if there were any expectations, probably from those who watched the original TV series and wonder how the Angels and their sexiness would be displayed on the big screen.

Yes, you’re going to see Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in tight outfits, outfits that showcase cleavage and quite a bit of hair tossing but of course, you’re going to get a lot of action and in this case, with the film utilizing world renown Cheung-yan Yuen (who was involved in major martial arts films with Jackie Chan and also the “Matrix” films) for the fighting sequences and putting these women through difficult training prior to the making of the film, the fight sequences were done very well.

Also, you can’t help but be amazed by costume and set design for the film.  With every individual sequence created for each of the women, various costumes and disguises they had to wear, director McG and staff really went all out in making “Charlie’s Angels” a fun, visual film.

With that being said, if one owns the DVD, is “Charlie’s Angels” on Blu-ray worth it?  If you enjoyed the film, then the improved visuals and the lossless audio would make things worth it.  The special features are the same standard definition features that were included on the original DVD and although I have read that there were two Easter Eggs (which were part of the original DVD) included, I’ve tried many ways to figure where it would be in the Blu-ray version to no avail.

But what it comes down to is one’s enjoyment of “Charlie’s Angels”.  Watching it again, I have to admit that I wasn’t really getting into this time around and the watching it again, I admit I was even questioning myself of why I even enjoyed this film back then.  Yes, the plot was ludicrous and the dialogue and storyline was kitschy.  Even the talent in the film also found the dialogue kitschy, Bill Murray even found himself at odds with Lucy Liu verbally because he found the script to be ludicrous.  Even comedian Tom Green who has a short stint in the film thought the script was terrible but only participated because of his ex-wife (Drew Barrymore) asked him to.

But I’m not going to be invidious towards this film.  Because the TV show was also cheesy to begin with and having grew up around watching the TV series as a kid, I was not expecting anything deep from the film but I did expect the film to deliver in special effects and also with Cheung-yan Yuen’s involvement, I was expecting to see a good amount of wirework and awesome fight choreography and the film did deliver in that respect.

There has been a lot of talk about a third film and I’m sure McG’s style of filmmaking has gotten much better since the making of this film and hopefully with what he accomplished with “Terminator Salvation”, if he was involved with the third film, maybe a series that could still incorporate the fun elements of the film but possibly less cheesiness.  Who knows?  I guess we’ll find out if the third film does receive the green light.

Overall, “Charlie’s Angels” on Blu-ray definitely looks much better and sounds much better than its previous DVD counterpart and if you were a big fan of the film or any of the talent, then this Blu-ray is definitely for you!

Fantastic Mr. Fox (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is absolutely fantastic and you’ll definitely enjoy every scene and detail of this stop-animation film in high definition on Blu-ray!  Definitely recommended!

© 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Fantastic Mr. Fox

DURATION: 87 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Widescreen: 1:85: 1, AVC @ 22MBPS, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish, French, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox

RATED: PG (Action, Smoking and Slang Humor)

RELEASE DATE: March 30, 2010

Based on the novel by Roald Dahl

Directed by Wes Anderson

Screenplay by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach

Executive Producer: Armon Milchan, Sten M. Rales

Producer: Allison Abbate, Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Scott Rudin

Co-Producer: Molly Cooper

Line Producer: Simon Quinn

Music by Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by Tristan Oliver

Edited by Andrew Weisblum

Production Design by Nelson Lowry

Art Direction by Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell

Featuring the voices of:

George Clooney as Mr. Fox

Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox

Jason Schwartzman as Ash

Eric Chase Anderson as Kristofferson Silverfox

Bill Murray as Badger

Wilem Dafoe as Rat

Owen Wilson as Coach Skip

Adrien Brody as Rickity the Field Mouse

Wallace Wolodarksy as Kylie

Academy Award-winning Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney (Up In The Air) and Meryl Streep (It’s Complicated) lend their voices to the hilarious, heartwarming and dazzling stop-motion animated adventure from visionary director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenebaums) Fantastic Mr. Fox, arriving as a Blu-ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack and on DVD March 23 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In there-imagined classic family tale, Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live a happy home life with their eccentric son Ash (Jason Schwartzman: The Darjeeling Limited) and visiting nephew Kristopherson. That is until Mr. Fox slips into his sneaky, old ways and plots the greatest heist the animal world has ever seen. When mean old farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean join forces to surround Mr. Fox and his family, they don’t realize they are not dealing with any old fox – it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and he has a fantastic master plan to save the day!

Roald Dahl, a British novelist who introduced us to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “James and the Giant Peach”, “Matilda”, “The Witches” and “The BFG” and many other books that have entertained generations.  And in 1970, Dahl wrote the children’s novel “Fantastic Mr. Fox” which would receive an adaptation into a feature animated film  co-written and directed by Wes Anderson (“Rushmore”, “The Royal Tenenbaums”, “The Darjeeling Limited”) and co-writer Noah Baumbach (“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, “Margot at the Wedding”, “Kicking and Screaming”).

The development for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” began in 2004 and was released in theaters in 2009.  What made the film quite unique is that it’s a Wes Anderson animated film and also a film that utilizes stop-motion animation and a first for 20th Century Fox.

The film was released in October 2009 and made over $41 million in the box office and nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Animated Feature” and “Best Original Score”.  And now, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” will receive its first Blu-ray and DVD release.  The Blu-ray release will include a DVD and also a digital copy of the film.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a film that begins with Fox (voiced by George Clooney) and his girlfriend Felicity killing and stealing squab.  Due to his girlfriend being pregnant and the fact that the two were caught stealing, Fox made a promise that if they were to survive their ordeal, he would quit and find a safer job.

Fast forward two years later, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox (voiced by Meryl Streep) have a son named Ash (voiced by Jason Schwartzman).  Mr. Fox is now a newspaper columnist and unhappy about his current lifestyle and living in a hole.   He wants a better home but Mrs. Fox has no problem where they are living at.   As for Mr. Fox’s son, Ash is a son who is not as gifted as his father and can be seen as a little weird as he likes to sport unusual clothing including a cape.

One day, Mr. Fox decides to purchase a home inside a tree, despite warning from his lawyer, Badger (voiced by Bill Murray).  Part of the reason why Fox wanted the home is that he could be close to large corporate facilities owned by farmers Walter Boggis (owns a chicken/squaw farm), Nathan Bunce (owns a duck and geese farm) and Franklin Bean (owns a turkey, apples and cider farm).

The whole family packs up and moves to their new home while Mrs. Fox’s nephew Kristofferson (voiced by Eric Chase Anderson) comes to live with them because of his father’s illness.  But immediately, Mr. Fox sees how Kristofferson is gifted with athletic ability like himself (and unlike his son) and also Kristofferson becomes quite popular at the school.  This causes Ash to become very jealous of his cousin because he does not have the same athletic skills but most importantly, his father seems to have more interest in Kristofferson than him.   Thus Ash treats his cousin quite badly.

Meanwhile, we learn of Mr. Fox’s main motivation of moving to the tree and near the corporations.  He is missing his old self and the ability to infiltrate, kill his food and steal.  Thus immediately, Mr. Fox and his friend Kylie (voiced by Wallace Wolodarsky) along with an unwilling Kristofferson begin infiltrating and stealing from the farms successfully.   But each of the farmers have had enough and will now do anything it takes to capture or kill Mr. Fox.

What became a fun getaway from Mr. Fox can now lead to the demise of his family and friends.  How will the fantastic Mr. Fox get out of this predicament?

VIDEO:

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is presented in 1080p (widescreen 1:85:1).  One thing that is important to emphasize that this is a stop-motion animated film.  So, for those who are wondering why the animation is not as fluid as a Pixar film, that is because this whole film is based on miniature models and an unthinkable amount of photographic images to create an animated film.

With that being said, I have to say that I was blown away by how beautiful this film is.  I didn’t realize how much went into this film until I saw the special features because I knew it was stop animation but for something to look this good, I figured there was plenty of CGI-animation incorporated.  But learning that every furnishing, every scenery was handmade and painted, each of the characters were about two feet miniatures and highly detailed was absolutely amazing. Great cinematography by Tristan Oliver (who has worked in several “Wallace & Gromit” films).

The Blu-ray brings out the detail of the work of the staff as the fur of the characters come out in such glorious detail, the eyes of the characters/puppets to the detail of the ground and the tree.  Absolutely fantastic work and very much appreciated through HD as detail is clear and reds, oranges and browns and various earthtone colors really showcase the vibrancy of the film.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish, French and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital.  Although the majority of the film is dialogue and musically driven, there are sequences that begin midway from the film that begins to incorporate more action sequences and sound effects.  Dialogue is crystal clear and understandable, music also comes out quite nicely through the front channels and then the moments of destruction from the humans towards Mr. Fox’s home and living areas are well demonstrated throughout the surround channels and even utilizing LFE.

Lossless audio is very well done and although not an aggressive soundtrack, a still a solid lossless audio presentation for the film.  And also, what an an interesting but fun music soundtrack with The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Burl Ives and other artists featured in the film and wonderful music by Alexandre Desplat (who did a wonderful job with “Julie & Julia”, “Cheri”, “Coco Avant Chanel”, etc).

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” comes with the following special features:

• Making Mr. Fox Fantastic – A fantastic documentary on the making of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” which you can play all or watch the following featurettes separately:  The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox (8:12), From Script to Screen (7:00), The Puppet Makers (8:19), Still Life (Puppet Animation) (7:23), Cast (6:32), Bill and His Badger (7:37).  I loved the featurettes included in this segment and how it shows the crew creating wonderful miniatures of Dahl’s work from furnishings to even the silverware and animating the puppets.
• A Beginner’s Guide to Whack Bat – (1:12) A brief guide to the sport of Whack Bat.
• Fantastic Mr. Fox – The World of Roald Dahl - (2:58) A short featurette about using the Dahl house as an inspiration of ideas in creating the miniature sets for the film.  Mrs. Dahl talks about how the filmmakers did a wonderful job in capturing Roald’s ideas for “Fantastic Mr. Fox”.
• Theatrical Trailer - (2:25) The original theatrical trailer

EXTRAS:

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” includes a DVD of the film presented in Widescreen (1:85:1), audio in English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround and Subtitles in English SDH, Spanish and French.  Also, included is a digital copy of the film.

I really enjoyed “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and after watching this Blu-ray release, just in awe of how much hard work, creativity and detail went into creating this film.  As mentioned, I thought there was a lot of CGI implemented in this film but to find out everything was literally handcrafted was amazing.

Wes Anderson is a wonderful director and the fact that you have major talent involved in this film from George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and many others along with a talented crew to create this stop-animation film and make it come to life is quite impressive. The characters and the world of Mr. Fox just comes alive in this film and you can’t help but grin because the colors and the detail is just so striking on HD.  This film really looks fantastic on Blu-ray!

As for parents who wonder if they can show this film to their children, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is rated PG and with FOX’s being wild animals, they steal and kill their prey.  Granted, there is no blood shown but those are things that some parents may be concerned about.  There is one scene where a rat pulls out a knife and tries to kill Mr. Fox and continues again further in the story where he goes after Ash.  So, there are darker moments in the film.  So, definitely parental guidance is suggested.

There is nothing that I can really complain about the film.  I absolutely loved it!   You get a good amount of special features on the making of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and on top of the solid picture and audio quality, you also get a DVD and digital copy of the film.

Overall, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a wonderful animated film that may be more appreciated by teenagers and adults than children but this Blu-ray is most definitely recommended!

George Clooney and Bill Murray attend a photocall for “Fantastic Mr Fox” at the Times BFI London Film Festival

L-R George Clooney and Bill Murray attend a photocall for Fantastic Mr Fox during the The Times BFI London Film Festival held at The Dorchester Hotel on October 14, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images). Content © 2009 Getty Images All rights reserved.

GHOSTBUSTERS (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“The sci-fi comedy classic ‘GHOSTBUSTERS’ makes its debut on Blu-ray for its 25th Anniversary. Well-written and well-acted, ‘GHOSTBUSTERS’ looks and sounds incredible on High Definition plus new features exclusive to the Blu-ray release. ‘GHOSTBUSTERS’ is highly recommended!”

Images courtesy of © 1984 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: GHOSTBUSTERS

DURATION: 102 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1),  English, French Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish 5.1, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Dutch

RATED: PG

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2009

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Written by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis

Executive Producer: Bernie Brillstein

Produced by Ivan Reitman

Associate Produced by Michael C. Gross, Joe Medjuck

Music by Elmer Bernstein

Director of Photography: Laszlo Kovacs

Editing by David E. Blewitt, Sheldon Kahn

Casting by Karen Rea

Production Design by John DeCuir

Art Direction by John DeCuir, Jr.

Set Decoration by Marvin March

Costume Design by Theoni V. Aldredge, Suzy Benzinger

Starring:

Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman

Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz

Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler

Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett

Rick Moranis as Louis Tully

Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz

William Atherton as Walter Peck

Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddmore

David Margulies as Mayor

A trio of university parasychologists lose their research grant and decide to open their own business, “Ghostbusters,” and almost at once are summoned to investigate the strange happenings in a Central Park West apartment. What they discover is that all Manhattan is being besieged by other worldly demons.

In 1984, “GHOSTBUSTERS” was one of the ultimate summer blockbusters (next to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) that would capture the attention of America and a film that would unite America’s top comedians and talents in one film.   The film has been literally “must-buys” for sci-fi fans in the last two decades with its release on LD, VHS, DVD and now, the film gets its 25th Anniversary release on Blu-ray.

“GHOSTBUSTERS” stars Bill Murray (“Stripes”, “Lost in Translation”, “Rushmore” and “Groundhog Day”), Dan Aykroyd (“The Blues Brothers”, “Trading Places” and “Dragnet), Rick Moranis (“Spaceballs”, “Little Shop of Horrors”and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”)  and major talents Sigourney Weaver (“Aliens”, “Galaxy Quest” and “Vantage Point”), Harold Ramis (“Stripes”, “Airheads”, “Groundhog Day”), Annie Potts (“Pretty in Pink”, “Toy Story”, “Designing Women”), William Atherton (“Die Hard”, “The Last Samurai” and “Life”) and Ernie Hudson (“Oz”, “Desperate Housewives”, “The Crow”).

The film would feature the talents of director Ivan Reitman (“Meatballs”, “Stripes”, “Twins” and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”), conductor/composer Elmer Bernstein (“Twilight”, “Spies Like Us” and “Cape Fear”) and cinematographer Laszlo Kovacz (“Say Anything”, “Mask”, “Copycat” and “Miss Congeniality”).

Since its release back in 1984, “GHOSTBUSTERS” continues to be among the top 50 highest grossing films in America (the #2 highest grossing film in 1984), was nominated for two Academy Awards (“Best Effects, Visual Effects” and “Best Music, Original Song”) and ranked by the American Film Institute as #28 in their “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs” list.

The film revolves around three parapsychology researchers Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) who go on their first paranormal venture at the New York Public Library.  The group see their first ghost and are excited about what they encountered.  Unfortunately, the group doesn’t have so much time to celebrate what they discovered.   Because of the lack of support from their peers at Columbia University, their research grants are terminated and the group’s studies and services is terminated.

But the trio feel they can do much more if they started their own business and after Stantz takes a mortgage on his parent’s home for money, the guys immediately establish “Ghostbusters”, an organization that specializes in professional paranormal investigations and elimination.

The group then grows as they successfully catch ghosts and begin to receive a lot of press nationwide because of their work.  Almost to the point of celebrity status.  As the company grows, they add receptionist Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) and a fourth member Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) to the team.

Meanwhile, Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a classic musician has been having paranormal activity in her apartment.  She has had weird situations happening in her apartment and at one time, in her fridge, something was yelling “Zuul”.

Unfortunately, Dr. Peter Venkman is unable to find anything in her apartment and Barrett recognizes that Venkman is more interested in her than her case and kicks him out of her apartment.  Eventually, the two see each other again as Dr. Venkman has done his research and learns that Zuul is a  demigod worshiped in 6000 BC by the Hittites, Mesopotanians and Sumerians as a minion of Gozer, the shape-shifting god of destruction.  And while with her, he manages to get a date with Dana.

On the night of their date, while sitting in her apartment and getting prepared for her date, Dana notices a light emanating from her kitchen.  All of a sudden, monster-like arms start coming out of her chair and she is held down and  whisked into the kitchen. When Dr. Venkman goes to visit her, he notices that she is acting differently.  When she starts licking him and starts levitating, he immediately realizes that something paranormal has happened to her.

Meanwhile, Barrett’s nerdy neighbor, accountant Louis Tully (who is madly in love with Dana) has a party at his apartment and next thing you know, a wild beast starts going after him.  As he tries to run away from it, the beast eventually captures him and possesses him.

But things are not all good with the Ghostbusters.  Walter Peck (William Atherton) who represents the US Environmental Protection Agency wants to bust the organization for keeping hazardous material (the ghosts) in their building.  He effectively has the power shut down to their building and immediately all ghosts are released and are unleashed back into the city and are now causing problems.

With the city in turmoil, the Ghostbusters are now New York’s best hope in stopping the ghosts but first, the guys must quickly go to take on Zuul and find a way to rescue Dana (and Louis).  Does the Ghostbusters have what it takes to stop this supernatural force?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“GHOSTBUSTERS” gets its HD transfer with a 1080p High Definition (aspect ratio 2:40:1) transfer.  For the most part, the picture quality is very good.   A problem with many 80′s (and early 90′s) films is that they have been released with a lot of digital noise reduction on Blu-ray.  This has given a soft sometimes cloudy look to the film and for the most part, videophiles have been very vocal of how they have had a disdain towards excessive DNR and edge enhancement.  With that being said, “GHOSTBUSTERS” features a film that retains its grain.

Suffice to say, the grain can be seen throughout the film which is a good thing since grain is part of the film.  There are scenes that are just look incredible on Blu-ray, such as the scene with the Ghostbusters taking on their major nemesis at the last quarter of the film.  Because of the colors, I found the picture quality to look very good during the latter part of the film.  “GHOSTBUSTERS” has never been a film that I ever though of as vibrant but overall the picture quality is very good.  If there is anything that I can see as a problem are the debates from those who support DNR and dislike their films with a lot of grain.  Personally, I am happy that Sony opted to keep the grain for the film’s High Definition transfer.

Is the picture quality great?  No, it’s very good but not great.  Considering how old this film is and comparing it to the original DVD, the Blu-ray transfer is the best video transfer the film has had thus far.

As for the audio, “GHOSTBUSTERS” is featured in English, French and Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (and Spanish 5.1).  I’ve noticed some really good usage of the rears during an elevator scene and the action sequence in which the Ghostbusters must use their weapons in order to capture the ghosts.  For the most part, the film does showcase the best audio of this film on Blu-ray with its lossless track.   I didn’t notice so much LFE usage coming from my subwoofers but there is good usage of the fronts and surrounds during the film.  The film does feature a lot of dialogue and the dialogue can be heard clearly, as well as Ray Parker, Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” theme and the various music tracks used throughout the film.

“GHOSTBUSTERS” doesn’t feature the most immersive soundtrack but compared to DVD, the film is more alive through the lossless track.

As for subtitles, English English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Dutch are included.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“GHOSTBUSTERS” comes with a good number of special features that are new for this 25th Anniversary release but also features from the original DVD.  Included are:

• Cinechat - The ability for people with Blu-ray 2.0 profile players to communicate online while watching the film.
• Audio Commentary with Director Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuk - The commentary is quite interesting as the men talk about the film in detail.  From the cast, special effects used on the film, set locations and more.
• Blu Wizard - This allows you to watch the film but by selecting this menu will bring up certain special features and then the film will branch out to these features and once done, return to the film.  This is primarily for those who don’t want to watch the full special feature featurettes and can select certain segments.
• Slimer Mode - This allows you to watch the film with interviews, pictures via picture-in-picture while watching the film.
• Ecto 1: Resurrecting the Classic Car - (15:37) Featured in High Definition, this segment features the Ecto-1 vehicle (a ’59 Cadillac Series 2) being restored by Cinema Vehicle Services and given a modern revamp for the interior and prepare it for promotionals of the upcoming Ghostbusters video game.  Also, featuring a visit from Dan Aykroyd who got to see the final restoration.
• Making of the Ghostbusters Video Game – (11:10) Featured in High Definition, people can watch the making of the video game as the talent from the first film are brought back for the video game and lent their voices to the video game.  This time the character of Walter Peck has been possessed and takes on the Ghostbusters gang.
• Ghostbusters Garage: Ecto-1 Gallery - (5:26) A featurette featuring music and playing the various imagery of how the Ecto-1 was before restoration and then after.  Featured in High Definition.
• Ghostbusters the video Game Preview – (1:43) The actual video game trailer.
• Scene Cemetery – This segment features ten deleted scenes: Stake, Diana, Honeymooners, Winston, Bums, Busy, Promotion, E.P.A., Puft Hat and “No Louis!”.  The deleted scenes are in standard definition and not cleaned up.
• 1984 Featurette – (9:45) The original standard definition featurette with interviews with the cast about working with each other and information about their characters.  If there is one thing you will discover is how technical Dan Aykroyd was with the high tech equipment featured and the name of the devices.
• Cast and Crew Featurette – (10:53) Interviews with Director Ivan Reitman and the cast about the film and why they feel it did well in the box office.
• SFX Team Featurette – (15:20) Interviews with Richard Edlund (Visual Effects Supervisor), John Bruno (Visual Effects Art Director) and special effects crew (some that worked on “Star Wars” and “Poltergeist”) about the animations used on the film and what they did to create the special effects at that time.   Also, how it took 10 months to work on.
• Multi-Angle Featurette – This featurette shows the following three scenes: Spook Central Exploding, She’s a Dog and Crossing the Streams.  And you can use your angle button to see the various scenes and how they were planned before adding the final special effects touches.
• Storyboard Comparisons – This feature has three primary scenes: Slimer, Dogs Drag Dana, Atop Spook Central and with the storyboards on top and the actual scene from the film at the bottom.
• Previews - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment trailers

“GHOSTBUSTERS” is simply a classic.  For any science fiction, “GHOSTBUSTERS” has been on fans collections for decades.  May it be VHS, DVD and now Blu-ray.  This is a title that is a no-brainer of films that are must-own!

It’s hard to believe that 25-years have passed since the release of this film but who can forget the green ghost sliming Dr. Venkman, the wacky and witty characters and the big giant Stay Puft Marshmallow man walking through the city of New York.  The film at the time was a fantastic film sporting the latest in special effects.

I can easily remember how this film was so fun and as a child, being so inspired by the special effects that it prompted me to take a broken vacuum cleaner, strap it on my back, sport some overalls and pretend I was a member of the Ghostbusters team.  These guys were just a heroic team that was so inspirational that a sequel was created and two animated series were released not long after.

People loved “GHOSTBUSTERS” and here were are 25-years-later and with a third film in the works with the original crew.

So, needless to say, “GHOSTBUSTERS” is a must buy film on Blu-ray.  The picture and audio quality is much better than its DVD counterparts and you also get more recent special features for this 25th Anniversary release.  Again, among Blu-ray fans, the picture quality can be debated among those who are supportive of grain and those who like their films with DNR and less grain.  But personally, I’m glad that Sony elected for a film that retained its grain.

“GHOSTBUSTERS” is a film that is just enjoyable now as it 25-years ago.  Well-written, well-acted and a true classic that is highly recommended!

Charlie’s Angels (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

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MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Tristar
CAST: Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Crispin Glover, Tim Curry and more.
DIRECTED BY: Joseph McGinty Nichol
WRITTEN BY: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts III
RATING: PG-13
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0160127
TYPE OF MOVIE: Action, comedy
DURATION: 98 minutes

King and Jack are experts in finding lovers of first love for their clients. One day, a young guy, a man of concealed identity, and Taiwan’s richest business tycoon ask King and Jack to look for their first lovers. To King and Jack’s astonishment, the women all look like the same ……

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
PLEASE NOTE: Warner and Columbia have recently added a Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE) to Region 1 titles like the The Patriot and The Perfect Storm. Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called “region-free” DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Director and Cinematographer Commentary
• Featurettes:
• Fashion Featurette
• Set Design Featurette
• Martial Arts and Stunts Featurette
• Special Effects Featurette
• Director McG Featurette
• Wired Angels – Special Effects Deconstruction
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Outtakes and Bloopers
• Music Videos by Destiny’s Child and Apollo Four Forty
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): Three Easter Eggs

Hidden scenes:
Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Highlight the “Getting G’d Up” option and press Right. A box will appear on Cameron Diaz’s waist. Press Enter to view the scene.

Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Highlight the “Wired Angels” option and press Left. A box will appear on Bill Murray’s jacket. Press Enter to view the scene

Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Advance to the last screen in the special features section. Highlight the back arrow and press Right. A square will appear over Sam Rockwell’s eyes. Press Enter to view the scene.

DVD REVIEW:

A fun movie to watch and a fun movie to watch if you grew up in the 70′s during the Charlie’s Angel phenomenon.

One of the problems with this movie when it debuted was that some people loved it and some people hated it.  Those who hated it, didn’t like the MTV look of the film and how the film wasn’t serious.  Some may say it’s more eye candy for the male fans.

Perhaps.  But you maybe asking why buy this DVD?  Well, it’s kind of hard to convince you if you hate this movie but if you enjoyed it, then the reasons why to buy this DVD is because it’s jam packed.  Note: If you have a multi-region player, this DVD may not play.

The video quality is very cool.  Since they experimented with different ways to film the movie, colors are brilliant but at times I felt that the colors were over saturated (note: Beach scene, look at the reds).  The audio was nice but for some reason I felt that I got more from my digital 5.1 from the trailers. (Yes, the trailers are in 5.1 except Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

As for DVD special features, a small featurette for the director, the action-stunt coordinator, fashion/clothing, for the movie, extended scenes, deleted scenes, outtakes (the ending of the film without the credits), director’s commentary, two music videos and trailers that are in digital 5.1 (including a sneak peak of the highly anticipated CGI film, “Final Fantasy”).

So, if you enjoyed the movie, you will be in for a treat with the special edition DVD.

THE MOVIE: B-
THE DVD EXTRAS: A-
THE DVD OVERALL: B+

Ghostbusters 2 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

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MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Pictures
CAST: Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson and more.
DIRECTED BY:  Ivan Reitman
WRITTEN BY:  Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: N/A
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy

Bill murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis take up their proton packs once more to battle the forces of evil in Manhattan!

After waging a war on slime that cost New York City millions, the Ghostbusters find themselves out of business-until an ancient tyrant, preparing a return to the Earthly domain through his portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Art, sets his sights on Dana Barrett’s baby as the new home for his wicked soul!  With the help of the Museum’s posessed curator, he plans to turn New York into a really scary place to live!  Now only the Ghostbusters can save New York City, by turning paranormal pest control into an art forum!

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None at this time

DVD REVIEW:

QUICK NOTE: If you want to buy the Ghostbusters movies, I highly recommending buying the Ghostbusters box set (includes both movies) because it’s cheaper than buying them separately.

You know, I was excited about the first movie but for some reason, I don’t know why I didn’t jump at the chance to watch the second movie at the theater.  I think it could of been Bobby Brown overkill of the Ghostbusters 2 theme song on MTV, not sure.

The second movie has a good storyline but I felt that the storyline had some loose ends that didn’t make things as fluid.  Also, many things are so corny in this film and it didn’t compare to the quality of the first.  The storyline had it’s moments of keeping the viewer interested and that’s what is important but fluidity was a problem in this second movie.

The video was nice and crisp as the first with a good remaster.  The sound was also pretty good and Columbia did put a lot of extras but nowhere near the first CD which had one heck of a cool menu and was fully loaded.  The second movie has many extras but they are more towards the subtitles, the trailers are the same on the first movie’s DVD and the rest are more talent information on the stars.  I no longer count menu’s, subtitles and trailers as extras.  They should automatically be put on a DVD and thus what you are left with is not much.  I could have easily gave the DVD a D rating for extras but the effort to include Asian country subtitles in this DVD is commendable, thus the C- rating.

All in all, the second movie is pretty cool but as for the DVD compared as a whole, I suppose all the effort was put on the first movie’s disk.  That’s why I recommend purchasing the two movie box set.

THE MOVIE: B
THE DVD EXTRAS:  C-
THE DVD OVERALL:  B-

Ghostbusters (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

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MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Pictures
DVD reviewed by Dennis A. Amith
CAST: Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson and more.
DIRECTED BY:  Ivan Reitman
WRITTEN BY:  Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087332
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy

Bill murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis star in this supernatural comedy classic that will have you howling!  When the University downsizes the para-psychology department, Doctors Venkman (Murray), Stantz (Akroyd) and Spengler (Ramis) make the leap from scientists to Ghostbusters, investigators and exterminators of paranormal pests!  The bewitching Dana Barett (Sigourney Weaver) discovers her refrigerator has become a portal into the spiritual dimension, our heroes then come face to face with an ancient evil force with plans to raise hell in Manhattan!

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Commentary by Live video commentary by Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis (using the multi-angle function)
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
• Storyboards with split-screen compare
• Production photographs
• Deleted scenes
• 1999 star featurette
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None at this time

DVD REVIEW:

QUICK NOTE: If you want to buy the Ghostbusters movies, I highly recommending buying the Ghostbusters box set (includes both movies) because it’s cheaper than buying them separately.

I remember when I first watched this movie, I loved it and in fact, I actually built a Ghostbusters contraption backpack using a vacuum cleaner, a match and a can of Lysol.  I don’t recommend children doing this but what I’m getting at is that this movie was magical and everyone loved it.

I can’t believe how old this movie is…makes me feel old but here I am with the DVD’s and I wondered how it would look on DVD and how would they treat it.

Good news DVD fans, Columbia Pictures did a great job in delivering this movie on DVD and jam packed it with a whole lot of extras.

The movie is digitally remastered and watching it doesn’t make you feel you are watching a movie over 15 years old.  The audio is good but I can’t put into words of how happy I am with this DVD because it’s packed with so much that it will take me a long time to go through all of it.  You get the video commentary of Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis which is awesome.  Storyboards, split-screen compare (which is very cool!), production notes, conceptual drawings, deleted scenes, featurettes from 1999 and from 1984, another documentary by the SFX team, before and after multi-angle (which is very cool), trailers of not just this movie but other Murray and Ramis films, subtitled production notes, I can go on and on….this DVD is awesome!

The movie was definitely a good SFX movie during it’s time and I remember being amazed as a kid on how they made this movie then.  It was eye-candy but also with a cool storyline.

Also, an interesting part of the film is the “Mystery Science 3000″ shadows during the commentary.  Pretty cool!

What you have here is one of the best made DVD’s available at this time.  Columbia/Tristar did a wonderful job and everyone involved with the Ghostbuster project should be commended.  They talk about how to make DVD’s more purchasable than just for rent, if Columbia continues with making DVD’s like these, I’m buying all of them because this is purely one of the best, complete package DVD’s out there.

Also, the box set which includes both movies is priced very well and I highly recommend buying the box set.

THE MOVIE: A
THE DVD EXTRAS:  A+
THE DVD OVERALL:  A