I Am Number Four on Blu-ray & DVD 5/24!

On Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD, Movie Download and On-Demand May 24th

Disc Extras Include Never-Before-Seen Bonus Features, Six Jaw-Dropping Deleted Scenes, Special Featurette on “Becoming Number 6”, Bloopers And More!

Burbank, Calif., April 4, 2011 – Just in time for summer break comes the ultimate action-packed, thriller I AM NUMBER FOUR, on Blu-ray, DVD, Movie Download and On-Demand May 24th. Starring sensation Dianna Agron (TV’s “Glee”) and heartthrobs Alex Pettyfer (Beastly) and Timothy Olyphant (TV’s “Justified”), I AM NUMBER FOUR will be available to own as either a 3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy), a 1-Disc Blu-ray, and/or 1-Disc DVD that comes packaged complete with never-before-seen bonus features, including deleted scenes, a special featurette, bloopers and more.

From mega-producer Michael Bay (Transformers franchise) and the director of Disturbia, D.J. Caruso, I AM NUMBER FOUR takes viewers on a suspense-filled ride that keeps them on the edge of their seat as they follow the extraordinary story of a young man who is hiding his true identity to evade a deadly enemy that seeks to destroy him.

BoBonus Features:
DVD:
·       “Becoming Number 6” Featurette

·       Bloopers

Blu-ray:
Everything on the DVD plus…

·       6 Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Director D.J. Caruso

o   “Strangers in Paradise” (Extended)
o   “Sam’s Mom”
o   “Worth Mentioning”
o   “Power Prank”
o   “Trying to Connect”
o   “Extended Warsaw Basement”
Movie Download:

Everything on the DVD plus…

·       1 Deleted Scene: “Power Prank”
Disc Specifications:


About The Cast & Filmmakers:
Based on the young adult novel by Pittacus Lore, I AM NUMBER FOUR stars Dianna Agron (TV’s “Glee”), Alex Pettyfer (Beastly), Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Timothy Olyphant (TV’s “Justified”) and Kevin Durand (“Lost,” X-Men Origins: Wolverine). This film is directed by D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia), produced by Michael Bay (Transformers franchise, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th remakes), and a screenplay by Alfred Gough and Mies Millar (TV’s Smallville, Spider-Man 2, Lethal Weapon 4, The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor) and Marti Noxom (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Mad Men”).


About The Film:
Three are dead. Who is Number Four? From director D.J. Caruso (Disturbia), producer Michael Bay (Transformers) and the writers of TV’s Smallville, comes this gripping, action-packed thriller.  John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) is an extraordinary teen masking his true identity to elude a deadly enemy sent to destroy him.  Living with his guardian (Timothy Olyphant) in the small town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events — his first love (Dianna Agron, TV’s Glee), powerful new abilities and a secret connection to the others who share his incredible destiny. Complete with deleted scenes and more, I Am Number Four is an explosive, suspense-filled ride that will take you to the edge of your seat and beyond.

About DreamWorks Studios:
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company formed in 2009 and led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil DhirubhaiAmbani Group. Upcoming releases include Cowboys & Aliens, The Help, Fright Night, Real Steel and War Horse.

DreamWorks Studios can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios <http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios> and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dw_studios <http://twitter.com/dw_studios> .

Bad Boys (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

If you were a big fan of “Bad Boys”, then the upgrade to Blu-ray is more than worth it with better PQ and also a wonderful lossless soundtrack.  Definitely much better than its DVD counterpart.

Images courtesy of © 1995 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Bad Boys

DURATION: 119 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English, French, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures

RATED: R (For Intense Violent Action and Pervasive Strong Language)

RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2010

Directed by Michael Bay

Story by George Gallo

Screenplay by Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Doug Richardson

Executive Producer: Lucas Foaster, Bruce S. Pustin

Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson

Music by Mark Mancina

Cinematography by Howard Atherton

Edited by Christian Wagner

Casting by Lynn Kressel, Francine Maisler

Production Design by John Vallone

Art Direction by Peter Politanoff

Set Decoration by Kate J. Sullivan

Costume Design by Bobbie Read

Starring:

Will Smith as Mike Lowery

Martin Lawrence as Marcus Burnett

Tea Leoni as Julie Mott

Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard

Marg Helgenberger as Alison Sinclair

Tcheky Karyo as Fouchet

Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett

From director Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) and the production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun) comes a thrill ride of explosive action from beginning to end. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up as partners in crime, crime-fighting that is, in this action-packed flick about a couple of good guys who are real BAD BOYS! One hundred million dollars worthof confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detective Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shutdown the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the murderers kidnap the only witness, a beautful police informant (Tea Leoni) and close friend of the boys, which makes things get personal! Fast cars, a gorgeous woman and non-stop action make BAD BOYS a guaranteed good time!

Trailer

In 1995, director Michael Bay made his directorial debut with “Bad Boys”.  Featuring a story by George Gallo and a screenplay by late show writers Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland and Doug Richardson (“Die Hard II”, “Money Train”) and  produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, despite being shot on a very low budget ($19 million), the film was a huge box office success making over $141 million in the box office .

“Bad Boys” would further the onscreen status of then-television show leads Will Smith and Martin Lawrence into movie stardom and would solidify Michael Bay’s status as an action director.

The film revolves around two best friends and detectives Marcus Burnett (played by Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (played by Will Smith) who both work in the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Department.  One night, a mysterious group managed to steal all the heroin seized by the police department and stolen from a secure police vault, Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano) suspects an inside job.  To make things worse, Internal Affairs warns that if the Miami PD does not find the drugs, the narcotics division will be shut down and the detectives will be reassigned.

So, now both Marcus and Mike must do all they can to find the stolen heroin and who is responsible for it.  While the two meet their contacts in the underground, Mike goes to his informant/escort Maxine Logan to find out if she hears or sees anything.

Maxine is hired by a former cop named Eddie Dominguez for some fun and she brings along her friend Julie Mott (played by Tea Leoni).  But Julie is not exactly having fun and goes to the bathroom.  Meanwhile, a French drug kingpin named Fouchet (played by Tcheky Karyo) and his group show up at Dominguez place and while Julie watches from upstairs, she sees them kill both Maxine and Eddie.  She is spotted by Fouchet’s men and they all go after her but she manages to barely escape from them.

Meanwhile, as Marcus and Mike arrive at the scene of the murders, Mike finds out that his friend Maxine has been killed.  Distraught, he goes to the escort owner’s home to find out more information of who may have killed her.  While Marcus is at work, Julie contacts the Miami PD and tells Captain Howard that she was a witness to her friend’s murder and she needs to talk to Mike.  But with Mike gone, Captain Howard forces Marcus to pretend to be Mike and to protect the witness and to find out more information from her.

But the problem is that Fouchet is way ahead of both Marcus and Mike as he has men at the location where Mike is going to and he has his men sent to Julie’s home to kill her.  Can Marcus protect the witness and will Mike found out who killed his friend?

VIDEO:

“Bad Boys” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1).  For the most part, the Blu-ray release definitely marks a much better looking version of the film.  You can see the skin pores on the characters, more detail in the characters as you can see the freckles on Tea Leoni’s face much more clearly.  Blacks are nice and deep.  Outdoor scenes are vibrant and colorful and for the most part, for a 15-year-old film, fans of the film will definitely enjoy the PQ.    I didn’t see any aliasing, edge enhancement or any artifacting.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Bad Boys” shines in the lossless department.  With this film being an action-driven film, there are times where you hear explosions and gun shots whizzing from left to right via the surround channels.  I also noticed some shots utilizing LFE.  But there was one scene where I felt it nearly blew my eardrum off because I had my system pumped up quite loudly.  But the film definitely sounds incredible via lossless.  Dialogue and music is clear and understandable through the front and center channels but there is good use of surround for the action segments.

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

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bad Boys” comes with the following special features presented in standard definition, English Stereo with Spanish or Portuguese subtitles:

• movieIQ™+sync (use logo) and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie!
• Commentary with Director Michael Bay - Featured on the original DVD release, Michael Bay talks about the making of the film, working with the talent and the crew and how certain scenes were created.  Also, talking about his directorial debut, the two main characters inprovising and working with a low budget.
• Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys Documentary – (23:54) A documentary on how the special effects were created for the film, the various weapons and how certain explosions were made.
• Three Music Videos – Featuring Dana King’s “Shy Guy”, 69 Boyz – “Five-O, Five-O” and Warren G’s “So Many Ways”.

EXTRAS:

“Bad Boys” comes with a cardboard protective slip case.

When “Bad Boys” came out in theaters in 1995, there were many critics who were not too thrilled by the film but the fact is that Martin Lawrence who had his own popular TV series “Martin” and Will Smith who had “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were popular talents.  Some may find the partnership between the two as just another cliche cop duo film and for the most part, I guess you can see it at that way but if you were a fan of these two, you were going to enjoy their interaction and their humor.  And possible the smartest thing that Bay allowed (because he didn’t like the script all that much) was to give Lawrence and Smith a chance to improvise their lines and have fun with it.

But if anything, “Bad Boys” was that film that lifted director Michael Bay and Will Smith’s names to new heights.  After this film, Will Smith was no longer the TV star but now a bonafide action star and followed up with “Independence Day” and “Men in Black”, while Director Michael Bay would have a string of box office hits with “The Rock” and “Armageddon”.

If this film proved anything, it was that Michael Bay knew what staff to work with because with such a low budget to work with, they accomplished a lot special effects-wise with very little (note: “Bad Boys” was budgeted at $19 million, Bay’s next film “The Rock” was budgeted at $75 million).

“Bad Boys” was like your usual copy duo films.  May it be “Lethal Weapon, “Beverly Hills Cop”, “48 Hours” (two friends/partners who have their own problems with one another) but when you have two African American talent who can play off each other so well, it made the film very entertaining.  The comedy and action was just right and I understand the critics feeling the film doesn’t break any new ground but in 1995, I felt the timing was right for the film and for the most part, movie watchers agreed with the pairing as seen with the massive amount of money that “Bad Boys” had made.

As for the Blu-ray release, the Blu-ray definitely looks much better than the DVD and the lossless soundtrack is awesome.  But if there is one thing where the special DVD slightly has an edge over the Blu-ray edition is that it does have the “Damage Control” which used angles to analyze special effects explosions and also an isolated music score which are not included on the Blu-ray.  So, if you enjoy those special features, you may want to hang on to your special edition DVD version.  But otherwise, the Blu-ray release of “Bad Boys” is much better than its DVD counterpart.

Overall, if you are a fan of “Bad Boys”, definitely give this Blu-ray release a chance!

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

Over a decade later and “Armageddon” is a film that just shines on Blu-ray.  Gorgeous visuals, immersive lossless audio… I was definitely impressed!  But if you are a owner of the original Criterion Collection DVD release, you may not want to discard it just yet as this Blu-ray release skimps on the special features.

Image courtesy of © WDSHE. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Armageddon

DURATION: 151 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 Widescreen), English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (48 kHz, 24-bit), Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

COMPANY: Touchstone Pictures

RATED: PG-13 (For Sci-Fi Disaster Action, Sensuality and Brief Language)

RELEASE DATE: April 27, 2010

Directed by Michael Bay

Screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams

Adaptation by Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno

Story by Robert Roy Pool and Jonathan Hensleigh

Music by Trevor Rabin

Cinematography by John Schwartzman

Edited by Mark Goldblatt, Chris Lebenzon, Glen Scantlebury

Casting by Bonnie Timmermann

Production Design by Michael White

Art Direction by Geoff Hubbard, Lawrence A. Hubbs, Bruton Jones

Set Decoration by Rick Simpson

Costume Design by Magali Guidasci, Michael Kaplan

Starring:

Bruce Willis as Harry Stamper

Billy Bob Thornton as Dan Truman

Ben Affleck as A.J. Frost

Liv Tyler as Grace Stamper

Will Patton as Grace Stamper

Will Patton as Chick

Steve Buscemi as Rockhound

William Fichtner as Colonel Willie Sharp

Owen Wilson as Oscar

Michael Clarke Duncan as Bear

Peter Stormare as Lev Andropov

Ken Hudson Campbell as Max

Jessica Steen as Co-Pilot Jennifer Watts

Keith David as General Kimsey

Chris Ellis as Flight Director Clark

Jason Isaacs as Ronald Quincy

Grayson McCouch as Gruber

Clark HEathcliffe Brolly as Noonan

Marshall R. Teague as Colonel Davis

Anthony Guidera as Co-Pilot Tucker

Greg Collins as Halsey

J. Patrick McCormack as General Boffer

Ian Quinn as Astronaut Pete Shelby

From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed Pearl Harbor and The Rock (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes Armageddon, available for the first time on Blu-ray™ High- Definition! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Will Patton, Armageddon is a meteor storm of action adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA’s executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it’s obliterated by a
meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option – land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor,
great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make Armageddon an exhilarating thrill ride you’ll want to experience like there’s no tomorrow!

In 1998, the summer blockbuster “Armageddon” from director Michael Bay (“Transformers”, “The Rock”, “Pearl Harbor”) featuring a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh (“Die Hard: With a Vengeance”, “The Punisher”, “Next”) and J.J. Abrams (“LOST”, “Star Trek”, “Cloverfield”)  became a tremendous success in the box office.   Making over $553 million worldwide, the film was loved by viewers despite being panned by film critics.

Starring Bruce Willis  (“Die Hard” films, “Surrogates”, “Lucky Number Slevin”), Billy Bob Thornton (“Sling Blade”, “Monster’s Ball”, “Friday Night Lights”) and Steve Buscemi (“Pulp Fiction”, “Desperado”, “Fargo”),  “Armageddon” would launch the careers of many talent such as Ben Affleck (“Good Will Hunting”, “Chasing Amy”, “Pearl Harbor”), Liv Tyler (“Lord of the Rings” films, “The Incredible Hulk”), Owen Wilson (“Bottle Rocket”, “Marley & Me”, “Drillbit Taylor”), and Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”, “The Whole Nine Yards”, “Daredevil”).  The film would also star a good number of talents such as William Fichtner, Will Patton, Keith David, Peter Stormare, Ken Hudson Campbell and many more.

“Armageddon” was previously released as a standalone DVD which was then followed up by a director’s cut (featuring two minutes extra footage), special features heavy DVD release from the Criterion Collection and over a decade later, we are treated with an HD version of the film on Blu-ray.

“Armageddon” revolves around an asteroid (the size of Texas) which hurling towards Earth in 18 days. Several smaller asteroids have bypassed Earth’s atmosphere and have caused destruction in various cities worldwide.  But this huge asteroid and its collision on Earth can easily destroy humanity.

The only option that NASA can give is by detonating a nuclear bomb inside the asteroid (800 feet deep) and splitting it into two and hoping that the asteroid will miss Earth.  And the only one with the expertise to drill that deep is offshore oil driller Harry Stamper (played by Bruce Willis) and his crew which include A.J. (played by Ben Affleck) who has a secret relationship with Grace (played by Liv Tyler), the daughter of Harry.  A.J. has  a problem of taking orders and the fact that he was secretly dating Grace does not put him in the best position with Harry.

The US government and NASA depend on Harry and his crew which includes Chick (played by Will Patton), Rockhound (played by Steve Buscemi), Oscar (played by Owen Wilson), Bear (played by Michael Clarke Duncan), Max (played by Ken Hudson Campbell), Noonan (played by Clark Heathcliffe Brolly) and a few others including the NASA pilots to prepare for the drilling on the asteroid. NASA head Dan Truman (played by Billy Bob Thornton) is the person responsible in making sure they are trained quickly and also responsible in leading the NASA operation on Earth.

Earth’s survival depends on these individuals.  Can they get to their location, drill 800 feet and detonate the bomb in time?

VIDEO:

Having owned the previous releases of “Armageddon”, I can easily tell you that “Armageddon” looks absolutely awesome on Blu-ray!  “Armageddon” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1) with colors that are vibrant and a film that sports many colors that simply, I was impressed by the picture quality.  Granted, some video stock footage will look slightly dated but those sequences are very short and if anything, your eyes are just in awe of how awesome and colorful this film is.  From the detail of the character’s skin to the lighting inside NASA as we see the lighting on the characters from green, to blue and of course the overall look of the asteroid and special effects are still wonderful to look at.  Over 12-years-later and the film manages to hold up extremely well!  Strong contrast, solid backs and I don’t recall seeing any major compression, edge enhancement or DNR.

So, for those who loved the film and were so upset with the non-Anamorphic release back in 1999, fortunately we have a 1080p (2:35:1) version of the film and also a version that just looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Armageddon” is absolutely immersive.  The film features an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (48 kHz/24-bit) and Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack.  But as you can expect from a Michael Bay film, he manages to utilize audio and in this film, with all the action, you can expect an immersive audio soundscape.  There are just so many times throughout the film where you hear the audio coming from the fronts, especially from the surround channels but then you can also detect LFE throughout.

Needless to say, when the Criterion Collection DVD release of “Armageddon” was released in 1999, a lot of us who reviewed the film were going crazy about how awesome the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack was but after listening to this lossless soundtrack, I was absolutely floored.  “Armageddon” is a film that truly belongs on HD and the soundtrack is just impressive!

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

This is probably where “Armageddon” on Blu-ray is not too awesome.  As the first DVD release was barebones, the Criterion Collection had audio commentary tracks, gag reel, production gallery, featurettes and many, many more special features.  Needless to say, the Criterion Collection version was truly a complete package when it was released in 1999 but in 2010, the Blu-ray Touchstone Pictures release, while not barebones, has very few special features.  Included are:

• Aerosmith’s MTV Award-Winning Music Video “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
• Theatrical Trailer
• Teaser Trailer
  

I know that many critics and reviewers have a problem with Michael Bay films but I love sci-fi action films, I love being entertained by films that feature continuous action and Michael Bay is a master of it.  Granted, when I watch a Michael Bay film, for me “Armageddon” is a popcorn action flick in which I expect nothing deep, nothing too intellectual and when it comes to disaster films, you want to see devastation and see humanity overcome all obstacles.

“Armageddon” was a film that I really enjoyed when it was first released and had the opportunity to review the original DVD, the Criterion Collection release and now this Blu-ray release.

Needless to say, the biggest question that fans of the film are going to ask is if this release is worth it and whether or not they should toss away their DVD versions of the film.  Well, for one, if you have the original barebones release, yeah, you can trade or sell that one online but if you have the Criterion Collection DVD release, you definitely will want to hold on to that release as those special features are probably not going to be seen in any future “Armageddon” release in quite some time.

But when it comes to picture quality and audio quality, this Blu-ray release of “Armageddon” is fantastic.  The Criterion Collection release was not anamorphic and it was a release before the current remastering that Criterion Collection is known for in recent releases.  So, Disney who have been releasing awesome Blu-ray releases have done fans a great service by giving us awesome picture quality and fantastic lossless audio.  Sure, I would have loved a English 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack but this 5.1 lossless soundtrack definitely brings this film to a new level.

I was comparing the Blu-ray release with the DVD releases that I had and it was like night and day in terms of PQ and AQ, this is definitely the definitive version of “Armageddon” to own.  But because those Criterion Collection special features are not included on this Blu-ray, it definitely knocks a point off this Blu-ray release.  I was a bit surprised not to see the commentary, gag reel and other featurettes were not included in this release and its a shame that Disney didn’t include it on this release.  So, if you do own the Criterion Collection DVD release and enjoy the film, you may not want to get rid of your copy.

Overall, “Armageddon” is a film that has its share of fans who love it and those who hate it and that can be said about many disaster films that have come out since the early ’70s.  I personally enjoy these type of films and the better the special effects, the better the film holds up overtime and granted, they may be farfetched (“Armageddon” is used as an actual training management program at NASA in which managers must find out how many inaccuracies the film contains) but for viewers, when it comes to these films, these are perfect “get-away” popcorn flicks.  Something that Michael Bay, J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Hensleigh are very good at with their films.

But if you are a fan who really enjoyed this film, “Armageddon” on Blu-ray in terms of film presentation (PQ & AQ) is highly recommended!

ARMAGEDDON – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #40 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

TITLE: ARMAGEDDON – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #40

CAST: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Billy Bob Thornton, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Keith David and Steve Buscemi

DIRECTED BY:  Michael Bay

PRODUCED BY:  Jerry Bruckheimer, Gale Anne Hurd and Michael Bay

TYPE OF MOVIE: Action, Romance, Sci-Fi and Thriller

DURATION:  153 minutes

Bruce Willis and an all-star cast of roughneck oil drillers blast off on a mission to save the planet in Michael Day’s doomsday space epic.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Criterion Collection, Widescreen, Dolby, Director’s Cut
• Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s)
• Michael Bay’s gag reel
• Deleted scenes, compiled by Michael Bay
• Storyboards and production design drawings
• Analysis of the special effects by visual effects supervisors Richard Hoover, Pat McClung and Hoyt Yeatman
• Music video “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, plus interviews with the band
• Widescreen letterbox format
• Number of discs: 2

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None at this time

I’m so glad that a Criterion edition of “ARMAGEDDON” was released.   The story of a huge asteroid about to collide with Earth and a group of oil drillers and NASA to prevent that from happening, what more can you ask for right?

Well, all I can say is that if you do have one choice for this movie, the Criterion Collection is the way to go.

Yes, both movies have outstanding video and the digital 5.1 is used a lot in this movie.  But that’s where the comparisons end because the regular version of the DVD has no extras.  The Criterion Collection version is loaded with extras.  I mean fully loaded and each segment in the special features are quite long.  One of my favorites happens to be the gag reel.

Also, the movie contains trailers.  Oh, no…not the typical 1-3 trailers that DVD’s have, this one has many trailers.  I’m not sure how many trailers I counted for the 20-second or 10-second segment.  This DVD is loaded with them.

Then another cool thing about the DVD extras are how certain special effects were made.

So, yes, the Criterion Collection cost about $10 more but it is probably one of the best Criterion edition DVD’s out there.  This version of Armageddon is highly recommended!

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