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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series Product: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series Lowest Price! List Price: $24.98 Amazon Price: $11.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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2002’s HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE was a revival of the classic 80’s cartoon. These new episodes focus on the early adventures of Prince Adam, who, having just become Eternia’s most powerful guardian HE-MAN, grapples with his new, awesome powers. HE-MAN must lead the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE into battle against the villainous SKELETOR and his evil warrior henchman, who scheme to rule Eternia and spread chaos through the kingdom. This Complete Collection starts with the three-part movie that shows how Price Adam becomes He-Man and leads Man-At-Arms, Teela, Ram Man, Buzz-Off, Mekanek and other MASTERS OF THE UNIVESE as they battle Skeletor, Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops, Evil-Lyn, Mer-Man and other villains for control of Eternia.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #701 in DVD
• Brand: DIGITAL1STOP
• Released on: 2009-09-29
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 960 minutes

Features

• HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE COMPLE (DVD MOVIE)

The Silver Lining of BCI’s Unfortunate Closing
There’s no denying it: BCI Eclipse had some incredible animated titles that risked becoming forever lost to the archives of time once the company was forced to shut its doors this past year. Fortunately Mill Creek Entertainment, which by the way is distributed by BCI’s parent company, Navarre, has acquired the rights to bring many of BCI’s titles to the home market once more. Even more impressive still is that these sets will be packaged up and sold as complete box sets (rather than individual season releases).

In the case of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, this set represents the complete 2002-series release by Mike Young Corporation. Coming in at a total runtime of 960 minutes, this set spans 4 discs and contains the same clear-plastic slipcase and artwork-style as the previous BCI releases.

The extras contained are only slightly less thorough than the individual season releases and include:
End of Episodes Morals
Interviews with Toyline Artists from Mattel and The Four Horsemen
12 audio commentaries
Scripts for episodes 1-40
A PDF Comic Book for unproduced episode #40

Notably missing from this set are the original art cards (a pair was included in each of the three season releases).

Now let’s take a look at the show itself:

Fans are treated to what many consider the most accurate and exciting rendition of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe saga. Debuting in 2002 under the Mike Young Productions umbrella, this latest rendition of the He-Man source material closely follows the original Filmation standard set in the early 1980s with modernized animation quality and in-depth stories that further built upon the original characters and environments. The first season consisted of the following 26 episodes:

The Beginning Part 1
The Beginning Part 2
The Beginning Part 3
The Courage of Adam
Sky War
The Deep End
Lessons
Siren’s Song
The Ties That Bind
Dragon’s Brood
Turnabout
Mekaneck’s Lament
Night of the Shadowbeasts
Underworld
The Mystery of Anwat Gar
The Monster Within
Roboto’s Gambit
Trust
Orko’s Garden
Buzz-Off’s Pride
Snake Pit
The Island
The Sweet Smell of Victory
Separation
The Council of Evil Part 1
The Council of Evil Part 2

Season two consisted of the following thirteen:

The Last Stand
To Walk With Dragons
Out of the Past
Rise of the Snake Men Part 1
Rise of the Snake Men Part 2
The Price of Deceit
Of Machines and Men
Second Skin
The Power of Grayskull
Web of Evil
Rattle of the Snake
History
Awaken the Serpent

In case you’re just tuning in, no this isn’t the Filmation version of the show so many of us recall with warm fuzzies from our youth. This is in fact the third (and most recent) animated iteration of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Produced for Cartoon Network by Mike Young
Productions, this version ran from 2002 until 2004 where it went for two full seasons (26 in the first season, 13 in the second). Along the way it managed to snag a very well deserved Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing (2004).

While there are few who could argue successfully that anything could replace the original Filmation series, Mike Young Productions managed to capture all of the elements that made the original so successful and to bring them up to modern standards of animation quality, sound work, and script writing. As a result the mythos had been brought to an entirely new generation of fans while simultaneously pleasing fans of the original.

Without giving too much away (I hate spoilers personally), I will say that the origins of Snake Mountain will begin to unfold in the second-half of the first season in addition to the complete origin of the Dark Hemisphere which imprisons Skeletor and his minions. New characters are plentiful as well and contain some slick back-story efforts, which make even the original Mattel toys a lot more desirable. Among the notables includes the stories of Two-Bad, Cobra Kahn, Cyclone, Roboto, Moss Man, Zodak, and Stinkor. Many of these characters were never fully fleshed out in the original show (if they appeared at all) and would have remained only in the imaginations of those who played with the toys if not for the spectacular effort here. We are also treated to a couple of new looks for He-Man himself including an amped up version of he and Skeletor in combat and his ever impressive winter gear which includes a flowing fur cape and a heavy battle ax.

The Snakemen element introduced in the first season develops into sheer brilliance in the second (and unfortunately final) season! Not to insinuate that the Masters didn’t have their hands full as it was with Skeletor and his minions, this time around the threats to peace and justice come in from all angles in the form of the Skeletor and company, the Snake Men, and the Evil Horde! Yes, you read that correctly- She-Ra’s arch nemesis, Hordak, who just so happens to have been Skeletor’s mentor, shows up in Season 2 within Skeletor’s origin story that finally ties all of the loose threads of Mattel’s franchise together once and for all.

I often like to wonder what ground Mike Young’s team would have covered had the show continued. Would they have expanded to include He-Man’s sister (She-Ra’s) story arc? Could have writer Larry DeTillio revisited some of his wise dragon influence? A shame that we’ll probably never know.

All in all, the show simply continued to build upon the foundation first set by Filmation in the 1980s and thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment, can be yours in its entirety for the cost of each of the single season releases.

Great classic remake
This is the full series DVD set. Includes the first 10 episodes that were released separately in a previous release, so you will NOT have to purchase both to have a complete set. I have enjoyed this incarnation of the classic TV cartoon show. The show does have a lot of action, and there are definite separations between the good and bad characters in the show. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are evil. The character profiles and morals (or lack of morals) are well defined.

I do have some warnings for parents looking to buy this for there kids. The last 10 or so episodes are pretty violent, dark, and can be pretty severe for young children. Some anonymous characters are killed or more specifically “eaten” by the main antagonist. This seemed pretty gruesome to me but Judge for yourselves; watch them with your kids to evaluate the content or answer questions your kids may have. There are some minor occult references and many references to mysticism. I don’t recommend this video for children under 6 years old.

Even with the previously mentioned violence, I’m pleased with my purchase and glad to add this to my cartoon collection.

didn`t think it was possible
i heard of this series a while back but never cared to check it out,thought there is no way they could do anything but down grade a near perfect show(i was a child of the 80`s and got he-man and beast man almost as soon as they came out).passed it a few times in target and best buy.then i read a customer review on here.so i decided i would hop on over to you tube and check it out.i`m watching it and thinking well it`s o.k. but the more i watched the more i got drawn in.this show is amazing from the story telling to the beautiful art.i didn`t think it was possible to top the original.the original has 2 things over this.the morals at the end of the 80`s version are better explained and really fit the story,they kinda suck here.most people will not care about that,but when i was young i loved that part of the show also.no telling the effect it may have really had on me.the other thing better in the original is he-man himself.that version will alway be one of my favorite all time heros cause you knew when he-man showed up he was going to do the right thing and make everything ok again.again my childhood perspective.the transformation in the 80`s version is way better more dramatic.Now that being said,i will start by saying this version of he-man is very good also(the 80`s he-man is just such a strong character it`s hard to follow up after him,but they did an excellent job)i agree with the one perosn who complained about adam being whinny i felt this way too but now i understand why he was potrayed this way.the adam from the 80`s has been doing this for awhile and is a bit older than this adam.THE ABSOULTE BEST PART OF THIS SERIES HAS TO DO WITH 2 THINGS.1 ALL THE OTHER CHARACTERS ARE AWESOME YOU GET ALOT OF ORIGINS,SO IT`S JUST NOT RANDOM PEOPLE APPEARING.AND ALL THESE CHARCATERS HAVE A GREAT BACK STORY AND DEPTH.IT`S LIKE THE IMAGES YOU MAY HAVE HAD AS A CHILD WHILE PLAYING WITH THE ACTION FIGURES.OUTSTANDING STORY TELLING.2 IS JUST A RUB OFF OF 1 IN THE FACT THAT THE STORY IS ONGOING AND NOT DISJOINTED LIKE THE 80`S VERSION,THE WHOLE 39 EPISODES(AND IT`S A SHAME THAT IT ENDED THERE,THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE TO COME.READ THE WIKIPEDIA)ARE CONNECTED.THE BONUS MATERIAL IS VERY GOOD.My only problem so far is the dvd case is cheap and is falling apart,close it gently.lol.and one of the episodes skips but it acts diffrently on diffrent players so it may be something i can fix.highly highly recommened if you grew up with it,if you have kids,or if you are a fan of good anime

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season Slim Set Product: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season Slim Set-Retail $39.98! Sale Only $23.99! List Price: $39.98 Amazon Price: $23.99 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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Various.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2775 in DVD
• Brand: GELLAR,SARAH MICHEL
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 990 minutes

Bracing the Storm of Season Six!
Season Six, to alot of fans, was a disaster train wreck! But don’t be fooled by their analysis of this season because its one of the best seasons ever of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”! This is the season that took risks, and triumphed unnoticed by the fans, except a few. This season is misunderstood by many who first viewed it and therefore they disliked it, just like they disliked the final season,(Season Seven), but it wasn’t because of the stories of this season, it was the gap of broadcasting that ruined the flow of the storyline, and therefore, this season needs another glance again, without interruption, and you’ll understand what the point of this season was all about.

Many say it was dark, and yes it was the darkest feeling season since Season Two, and later Season Seven, but life itself, can get dark sometimes, and this was the point the series 6th year was trying to point out. If you’ve noticed, every season’s theme has a metaphor in them, and this year was having the Scooby Gang bracing their darkest storm that could be thrown at them.
How is that? You may say, well, I’ll tell you…

Ever since the very first episode, we’ve grown to love these wacky fun loving kids! In the First Season, it was the introduction period, the Slayer, her Watcher and friends gathering in the library, fighting monster of the week big baddies, along with school issues every teenager at one time or another will find theirselves in, plus a trial of a Slayer. In the Second Season it grew larger, they had to battle not only school, but love hormones, a lover gone bad, new annual baddies, like Spike and Drusilla,and the death of a close one, and trials of a Slayer. In the Third Season, still it was school, a rogue Slayer named Faith, a baddie named “the Mayor”, and trials of departing loves and trials of a Slayer. The Fourth Season was college life, new baddie named Adam, and a government containment place for studies of demons, and again trials of a Slayer. The Fifth Season was departure childhood, going into adulthood, and fighting a big baddie named Glory, and the death of a dear one they’d miss forever, and also introduction of a sister. And now Season Six takes them farther, somewhere that the Scoobies had never faced before….and that was “life”!

Every year they’ve faced bad things, but they were never in a position of being left alone, to survive on their own, and to be a grown up. Someone here mentioned that its been six years later since they started their adventures, and that they were adults now, and they needed to center their lives as adults, and that person was right. It was time to move onward, brace whats ahead, no matter what lie uncharted. We had to see how these characters would react, if they were put in a position to where they’d hit rock bottom, to see how they’d reach the top again, to see really, how much strength they really have, besides magic, or mysttical slayer powers, and thats the storm one must face, to overcome their trials with triumph.

In this season, Buffy had to quit her hopes of returning to college, and get a real life job to pay the bills, make sure Dawn doesn’t get taken away from her care, and at one point, she comments that her mother was the super woman of the family on how she couldn’t believe she could do all the stuff that Joyce did! Xander has to confront the word “commitment” as he gets prepared to marry the woman he loves, and Willow has to overcome her craving for magic, which she deals with throughout the season by trying to give it up. The point, they each failed, they hit the bottom of the boat, as Buffy fell into depression, had an affair with Spike, (who in this season overcomes some major points in his life too), Xander’s fear of turining into his father, leaves him leaving Anya at the altar, later turning her in the way of vengeance again, and Willow, she gets the sour lemon, as she gains Tara back,(who left her because of Willow’s crave of magic), but she also loses Tara in the one of the most vicious and real murders of the series, which drives Willow into becoming evil with rage, and almost destroying the world. At the end of the season, all of them faces their problems, and they begin the start of rebuilding what they lost as they hit rock bottom througthout the season, as Buffy and Spike seperate, he goes to get a soul, she tries to tear down her gap with Dawn that they made during the season, and Xander and Willow come to terms with theirselves as they each step out of the eye of their own inner demons, their storms!

Note:
This season has great episodes! There’s “Bargining”, “Once More,With Feeling”, “Dead Things”, “Normal Again”, “Seeing Red”, and “Villains” to “Two to Go’ & ‘Grave”. Each actor portrailed each character to heart so much, that their feelings grabbed ahold to you, as if you were the one’s who were going through them as well! Also,do know that this season is *very graphical* in some scenes, this was the most *provocative season* in the series whole 7 year run. There is a few gruesome scenes in some episodes, and some very [physical] in tone,(especially with the Spike and Buffy, and Willow and Tara romantic storylines), but they were to make a point, that was needed for the story of the season.

It’s a great and wonderful, powerful season,with a powerful message that was overlooked, this season took dangerous risks, and truimphed with their goal. Also know that this season is the *only* season that centers the Slayer and the Scooby Gang around the true hard cold life that we all may face once we reach adulthood, if not already. Many fans should charish this season to heart, it was indeed an unheard, unreconized, classic season for the series! I love this season! Enjoy, you won’t regret it!

BUFFY’s most controversial and uneven season
Note: Insert standard spoiler warning of your choice here!

Season Six of BUFFY is the show’s most controversial by far. Sarah Michelle Gellar has stated that she found the mid-season episodes between her and Spike to be degrading and unpleasant and many fans would agree with her. This was the season that Joss Whedon left the show as the day-to-day show runner and turned over the reins to Marti Noxon, though he nonetheless remained deeply involved with the show, supervising the story arcs and individual episodes, as well as writing and directing several episodes.

There is no question that Season Six contained some very memorable moments. There is also little question that the season had some weak episodes–especially at around the two-thirds mark–as well as some not-very-popular story arcs. The least popular aspects of the show was the self-destructive tendencies and actions of all the major characters and the lameness of the show’s “big bads,” the geek threesome known as The Trio. But in fact, the Big Bad of Season Six is each individual against him or herself. Buffy, struggling with her inadvertent removal from heaven by Willow, suffers economic difficulties, eventually taking a fast food job, eventually numbing herself with a demeaning sexual relationship with Spike. Willow becomes more and more addicted to using magic, to the point that it first threatens to destroy her relationships and eventually the world. Xander, fearful that his impending marriage to Anya cold lead to the same kind of family that he grew up in, leaves Anya a the altar. Anya, crushed by being deserted by Xander, reverts to being a vengeance demon. Dawn’s kleptomania gets out of control until the others discover her problem. Giles makes an error by going back to England, imagining that Buffy needs to learn to live on her own. Only Tara does not engage in self-destructive behavior, but her accidental killing spurs Willow’s killing spree at the end of the season. The season’s motto could be: We have met the enemy and he is us.

There are titular villains. Warren, the robot-constructing geek from Season Five’s “I Was Made to Love You,” Jonathan, the geek who first appeared in the BUFFY pilot (he was considered for the role of Xander before Nicholas Brendon got the job), and Andrew, whose brother was involved in a flying monkey incident no one seems to remember, team up to take over Sunnydale. They are uber dorks, obsessed with the whole panoply of comic book culture and Star War action figures. Though them manage to pull off some stunts, apart from Warren’s accidental killing of both his ex-girlfriend and Willow, they are a pretty silly lot. They are more like perpetual comic relief. BUFFY was always trying to do new things and I applaud them for doing so (the effort to always be fresh was one of the reasons it was such a great show), but I think it is safe to say that having them as the Big Bads was a bit of a mistake. In the end, their greatest contribution was in providing victims for Willow’s rampage at season’s end. Indeed, the single most horrifying moment in the history of the show had to be the terrible instance in which Willow, after catching and briefly torturing Warren for killing Tara, magically removes his entire epidermis. Not just on BUFFY, apart from some moments in THE SOPRANOS, I know no more terrible instance in the history of TV. Clearly they wanted to demonstrate just how far Willow had gone.

Although the season’s story arcs were not especially satisfying, there were a number of unforgettable episodes. The season begins with a great sequence of episodes, as Willow with the assistance of Tara, Xander, and Anya raise Buffy, who had died a mystical death at the end of Season Five, from the dead. Their fear, based largely on Angel’s being sent to a hell dimension at the end of Season Two, was that Buffy was suffering unspeakable torture in a different hell dimension. But we later learn that she was, in fact, in a place of great peace and repose, a place she could only describe as “heaven.” The first six episodes see Buffy struggling to deal with her return to a place that now felt like hell. All these early episodes, even if not strong all the way through, contain at least some great moments.

Then come Episodes 7 and 8, not just the best episodes of the season, but among the best in the run of the show. “Once More, with Feeling” is often cited as the very best episode of BUFFY, and to those who wish the show had ended at the end of Season Five, my response is always, “Would you really have wanted for there never to have been “Once More, With Feeling?” This was the musical episode and while many shows have attempted musical episodes, this one stands far above what any other show has either attempted or achieved. What is amazing is how fine the episode was despite not having a world of musical talent on the show. Only Anthony Stewart Head (who had taken over the lead in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW in London in the original production and sung on albums by his brother Murray, the original Judas in JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR), James Marsters (who headed his own rock band), and Amber Benson (who played Tara) had especially good voices. Though not a trained singer, Sarah Michelle Gellar nonetheless acquitted herself quite well both singing and dancing, and Michelle Trachtenberg, though not a singer, put her dance training to good use. Joss Whedon contributed a very fine group of songs. In one of the best guest appearances in the run of the show, veteran Broadway hoofer Hinton Battle (perhaps best known as the Scarecrow in the entire run of THE WIZ on Broadway) played the demon Sweet, who was accidentally summoned to Sunnydale, and who was responsible for the singing and dancing afflicting everyone. The most amazing thing about the episode was the way that the songs advanced every story arc in the show and greatly accelerated the action. The best songs were Buffy’s Disneyesque “Going Through the Motions” that started the episode; Tara’s singing of “Under Your Spell” to Willow (ironic in that she learned she was literally being controlled by Willow through magic); Spike’s passionate expression of his love/hate for Buffy in “Rest in Peace”; the wonderful duet between Tara and Giles; and the great production number that preceded the battle-that-never-occurred with Sweet, “Walk Through the Fire.” Not should also be made of Anya’s great bit in an early group number in which the Scoobies are trying to figure out why everyone is singing and dancing. After singing that she has a theory that it “must be bunnies,” the group very ignores her only to have her scream in a great hard rock voice:

Bunnies aren’t just cute like everybody supposed
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses
And what’s with all the carrots?
What do they need such good eyesight for anyway?
Bunnies! Bunnies! It must be bunnies!

The popularity of the episode can be seen in the fact that it is the only episode to have its script published separately and the soundtrack has been released on compact disc.

“Once More, with Feeling” was followed by “Tabula Rasa,” probably the funniest episode ever on BUFFY. After Tara catches Willow manipulating their relationship through the use of magic, Willow complicates things by attempting once more to make them all forget that she had used magic to control others. But the spell misfires and instead everyone in the group, including Willow, forgets who they are. The scene in which everyone tries to figure out who they are is a classic, the best part being Spike, who has been going about in a dreadful suit as a disguise to escape a loan shark (a demon with literally the head of a shark, the only really awful note in an otherwise stunning episode), deciding that his is Giles’s son and that his name is Randy. When Buffy finds no ID, she tellingly decides that everyone should call her Joan, with echoes of St. Joan in her choice.

Unfortunately, while there are few out and out bad episodes, there are few absolutely stunning episodes until the ones that end the season. The one major exception is “Normal Again,” which resembles many of the alternative reality stories of Philip K. Dick. Buffy is injected with some venom by a demon she fights, and the result is that she imagines that she is actually in a mental institution where she has been fantasizing for several years that she was a vampire slayer in a town called Sunnydale. Or is reality breaking through to make her cease fantasizing for a while. We fans, of course, can’t imagine that all six seasons were a delusion, but it is nonetheless a brilliant episode.

Although I don’t believe that this is one of BUFFY’s best seasons, I can’t give this less than five stars simply because even during this season BUFFY remained one of the most brilliant shows on TV. Not everything in the season succeeded, but they nevertheless continually strove to produce a special show. The show took risks; they never played things safe. The problem with taking risks is that sometimes things don’t work out. Still, all in all this was a season with more to delight over than to regret.

Still Great, but Different
The Sixth Season of Buffy was indeed different. A lot of people seem to have had a problem with the darkness of the season, the emphasis on real life problems. However, I think the creation of the trio was brilliant. This season was all about exploring how the characters responded to real life challenges, as was the case with the trio. What made them so brilliant was the viewer could trace the devolution of the trio from mischivious to truly evil. They were normal people, a trio to match the early trio of Buffy, Xander, and Willow who allowed their greed and discontent to consume them, especially Warren. I found the trio truly chilling, if only because of all the monsters on Buffy, they were the only ones that were a glimpse of what a human being could become in reality.
Moreover, this season had many of the best episodes of the series. Once More, With Feeling is brilliant, I think in anyone’s estimation. Tabula Rasa also is very funny. The finale of the season was a slam dunk, and Xander’s yellow crayon speech was incredibly poignant. All the characters faced their inner demons by the seasons end; some triumphed, others were left in the following season to pick up the pieces from their disastrous choices.
I also can’t wait for Season 7 to be out on DVD

J.R.R. Tolkien Animated Films Set The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/The Return of the King Product: J.R.R. Tolkien Animated Films Set The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/The Return of the King Sale-$26.49! List Price: $38.92 Amazon Price: $26.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on J.R.R. Tolkien Animated Films Set The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/The Return of the King

Animated versions of three Tolkien classics: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Return of the King.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1855 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2001-12-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Georgian, Thai
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .55 pounds
• Running time: 308 minutes

Features

• Animated versions of three Tolkienics: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Return of the King. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN Rating: NR Age: 085392633128 UPC: 085392633128 Manufacturer No: 26331

The path to Tolkien
I might feel differently if I had not grown up watching these films, but I will never know. The Rankin/Bass specials were something I always looked forward to watching on television, and the Ralph Bakshi “Lord of the Rings” was one of the first films I ever saw in the theatre. I loved them then. I love them now.

Watching them now, I think that the quality still holds up. Rankin/Bass are not masters of fluid, perfect animation. More than anything, they are stylists who achieved the highest quality they could within budget limitations. “The Hobbit” is the best of the bunch, using dialog and story from the book. The background paintings are beautiful, and the whole production has a hand-crafted feel to it that is far more charming than bigger-budget animation. “Return of the King” suffers from the poor casting choices for Merry and Pippin. The best scenes are Frodo and Sam in Mordor. The songs are memorable in both productions, and I dare you not to hum “Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom” or “Where theres a Whip, theres a Way.”

Ralph Bakshi’s “Lord of the Rings” has suffered most through the passage of time. His experimental animation does not go over well with viewers used to “Toy Story” and “Akira.” Personally, I find his vision of the story to be equal parts charming and creepy. He also took dialog from the books, to great effect. His Dark Riders are terrifying, as is his Balrog. It is unfortunate that he was not able to complete the second half as planned.

Considering that the audience for these productions are children, and with the understanding that adapting a novel is difficult, I think both the Rankin/Bass and Bakshi versions hold up well. Watching these as a child got me interested in the books, and didn’t color my enjoyment of them at all. That’s a good recommendation.

Worth Having
If for no other reason than “completing a media collection”, these 3 DVDs are worth owning by fans of LOTR that love the story, but haven’t gone over the deep end in terms of what they deem “worthy” renderings of Tolkien’s work.
The Hobbit is probably the best of the three, though inexplicably is missing about a third of the sound effect work from the broadcast version - most notably Bilbo slaying the spiders, and Smaug’s blasts of fire. Weird. Anyway, with the remarkable cast of voices it stands well on it’s own. IMHO, Brother Theodore’s version of Gollum’s voice is probably the best there will ever be. Great for kids, fun for adults who remember.
Bakshi’s “Lord of the Rings” was perhaps over ambitious - some of the rotoscoped scenes drive me nuts - but some things he did very very well. The relationships between the fellowship are completely believable. The black riders are spooky as it gets, and his version of Galadriel’s pool/test are right on the money. All in all, I still like pulling it out on a dark pre-snowy autumn night.
Return of the King - this one’s an oddity. I agree with some other reviewers here, it’s treated like The Hobbit, but it’s so dark that it almost gets funny in places. Roddy McDowell is over-the-top big time, painting Sam much harsher than the books, and much is glossed over for time constraints. Though,it too, has it’s moments.
Over all, the Rankin Bass offerings are beautiful to look at…the backgrounds are breathtaking - water colors brought to life.
None of these three films are perfect, but given the fact that no major studio would touch any of ‘em, _and_ the fact that over 1200 pages of story are being crammed into under 4 hours of movie, I find them mostly satisfying versions of LOTR, and find myself watching them more than I expected to.

Anime + Lord of the Rings = Success!
The Rankin/Bass (The people who brought you Thundercats) versions of “The Hobbit” and “Return of The King” are extremely well done and all three films are BEAUTIFULLY restored for DVD! It’s too bad it took the release of the Peter Jackson live-action versions to get these beautiful pieces of anime onto DVD but as long as it happened I guess it’s all right even though it reeks of band-wagon capitalism. The Bakshi version of Lord of The Rings (Based on “Fellowship of The Ring” and portions of the “Two Towers”) is also well done but the animation ranges from cheesy to beautiful and is uneven. I never connected with this middle film even though I appreciate it. It just lacked the organic and emotional feel and cleanliness of the first and the last one. For great battle scenes and images of Minos Tyrith, the third disc has to be seen to be believed! Full of singing and light, these discs straddle the line between kid and adult entertainment like a razor blade. It’s really a shame they never put out a good CD compilation of the soundtracks to the first film and the last film (Kind of like the Less Than Zero orchestral score!) because the vocal and instrumental pieces are really beautiful!

‘68 Comeback Special Description:

Elvis: ’68 Comeback – Special Edition DVD (audio track list)

Opening Production Number:
1. Trouble/Guitar Man

2. That’s All Right
3. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
4. Medley:
Heartbreak Hotel
Hound Dog
All Shook Up
6. Can’t Help Falling in Love
7. Jailhouse Rock
8. Don’t Be Cruel
9. Blue Suede Shoes
10. Love Me Tender
11. Baby What You Want Me To Do – Impromptu jam.

Gospel Production Number:
12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
13. Where Could I Go But To The Lord
14. Up Above My Head
15. Saved

16. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
17. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
18. Trying To Get To You
19. Tiger Man
20. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
21. One Night
22. Memories

Guitar Man Production Number:
23. Nothingville
24. Guitar Man
25. Let Yourself Go
26. Guitar Man
27. Big Boss Man
28. It Hurts Me
29. Guitar Man
30. Little Egypt
31. Trouble
32. Guitar Man

Finale:
33. If I Can Dream

Bonus features:

Having Fun With Elvis In Burbank
Funny moments from throughout the production of the ’68 Special

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3633 in DVD
• Brand: PRESLEY,ELVIS
• Released on: 2006-08-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Dolby, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 94 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0828767050591
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Just the basics of the 1968 Special
This DVD has just the basics of Elvis’ excellent 1968 special. If you want an in-depth presentation, you should get the 2 DVD Deluxe edition. This DVD includes nearly all of the footage of the original show. Elvis’ performances are outstanding, especially the “informal” jam session, where Elvis actually plays his guitar instead of just using it as a prop! Elvis’ informal jam session was an early precursor of the MTV Unplugged series that would follow more than 20 years later. The bonus material includes some outtakes and photos, but really does not add much to the set. This DVD should be enough for the average fan and it is available at a reasonable price. Hardcore fans will want the deluxe edition.

Revisiting Elvis
The original Elvis mania was a little before my time - I rarely can say that about anything anymore, but I can say it about this. I was too busy being a kid during his first wave in the 50s to be very aware of popular music. I didn’t really start listening until the British invasion of the 60s, which Elvis, following advice, wisely sat out. He kept busy in Hollywood instead. Until I was 15, I knew him mostly from his string of B movies. A few early ones (including Jailhouse Rock and King Creole), rose to the level of camp classics. The ones from the 60s struck me then as watchable but forgettable.

The time came when Elvis Presley wanted to return to live musical performances. In 1968, I watched the TV special “Elvis” and was blown away. I didn’t see this show again until earlier this week, nearly 40 years later. My response was the same. This is classic Elvis at the top of his form before he became a caricature of himself. Others have commented with some justice that, in the 70s, the first Elvis impersonator was Elvis, but no such gibe applies here.

The show featured a mix of performances. Elaborately choreographed stage numbers presaged his later Las Vegas shows; they also presaged, to some degree, the acts of many present day pop stars, which seem to be as much about staging as about music, and which feature “electronic enhancement” (often little different from lip synching) of the voices. The bulk of the show, however, and by far the most effective part of it, is Elvis’ straight-up un-enhanced music, played and sung almost casually and with humor in the midst of a fairly small audience.

I became a fan in 1968. What is on this DVD is the reason.

Magnificent
After years and years of making movies and largely neglecting his musical career, Elvis did this TV comeback special in 1968. The success of this show rejuvinated Elvis, and within a year he had recorded “The Memphis Album” (also recommended) which included “In The Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds”.

The TV special reunited him with his original 50’s band for the intimate small stage set. He is seated and singing some of those classic Sun records “Thats Alright Mama” being perhaps the best known. Then, dressed in black leather he is backed (out of sight) by a bigger band and here Elvis is in rocking form, tearing up the stage with fabulous performances of Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel and many others. During the remainder of the show a full band and Orchestra back him, together with additional dancers and large sets. The show ends with a breathtaking version of “If I Can Dream”, which remains my favourite Elvis performance of all time.

This ’special edition’ has a few humourous outtakes and some stills, but really its the main film your buying it for. If you want a proper special edition buy the 3 disc edition. If you’ve never really understood what made Elvis so great, buy this DVD and you will.

Numb3rs - The Complete First Season Product: Numb3rs - The Complete First Season Lowest Price! List Price: $29.99 Amazon Price: $19.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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• Amazon Sales Rank: #4569 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 544 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0097360475340
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Numb3rs is a Great Show
I was lucky enough to catch Numb3rs from the beginning. I absolutely love the show. First, it is different than your standard cop show, and even different from all the CSI type shows. The show has strong characters and you really feel like you know them. The FBI is portrayed as actually being human rather than a federal conglomerate. The tie in with the math is simply awesome. I am not a huge math guy, but it is interesting for me, and the show does a good job of explaining the math via great scenes. I give this 5 stars.

“We All Use Math Everyday”
“We all use math everyday” says Charlie Eppes, the lead character in the CBS mathematical drama NUMB3RS. Trying to convince an 8th grade math class about that became easier with this show on the air. I’ve enjoyed the show since day one. Crime drama that makes you think.

Teachers out there may not be aware that the show has a web site that offers lessons based on each episode. Upper level middle and high school students can be challenged by these activities created with help from Texas Instruments and The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. I am pleased to say some of the authors also participated in the Rutgers Leadership Program in Discrete Mathematics, a course I had the pleasure of taking way back in 1996. Check out the NUMB3RS website at
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/

It All Adds Up
Yes, this is a great TV show–and I don’t say this lightly. I’m not much of a TV watcher generally speaking, but “Numb3rs” has really impressed me as a quality show from the get-go. My spouse and I always make it a point to be home Friday night to catch the latest episode, so we were both pretty excited that season one has been released on DVD. Since we don’t have cable, and surrounding high-rise buildings hinder antenna reception (ah, yes, life in the big city), it has been especially nice to see the episodes again, only this time in clear and crisp digital.

So what makes this show so good? Lots of things, I suppose. I particularly like the combination of Charlie and Don as a crime-fighting team, their skills and personalities complimenting each other. With Charlie you get the latest incarnation of the classic figure of the detective who uses reason and logic to solve the crime (going all the way back to Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin in “The Purloined Letter” not to mention Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes), and with Don you of course get the cop with a badge and a gun who saves the day (a mainstay of American TV for decades). That said, both actors flesh these archetypes out really well into individual characters, and their brotherly interaction (with a dash of sibling rivalry) creates just the right dynamic.

The math angle is handled extremely well, too. My spouse the mathematician assures me that the higher math Charlie spouts is for real (even if it can’t quite catch the bad guys quite so efficiently–cue temporary suspension of disbelief here), and yet for a humanities type like me who knows just enough math to unbalance the checkbook the show’s writers and producers do a fine job of translating such mathematics into terms that make sense to the non-expert, often using visual asides to illustrate the principles involved in clever, creative ways. In general, too, the atmosphere and character of academia (with Charlie’s physicist friend and all) is portrayed pretty accurately and authentically, which is extremely rare for TV shows…and movies, for that matter.

Finally, on the more basic level, there is just the good old-fashioned pure enjoyment of watching the good guys catch the bad guys.

To make a long story short (I know, too late), this is a fine TV show that is well worth having in one’s collection of DVDs.

Saving Grace: Season Two Description:

Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 16-JUN-2009
Media Type: DVD

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7478 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2009-06-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 601 minutes

Customer Reviews:

Saving Grace Season 2
Oklahoma City detective Grace Hanadarko is never much of one for the straight-and-narrow. She is frequently forced to balance her personal issues with smoking, drinking, and sex with difficulties between her family and friends, her high-stress job in law enforcement — and not to mention her interactions with an angel named “Earl” who has been sent by God to convince Grace to turn away from her evil ways to God. Grace may be on the road to hell, but, with Earl’s spiritual guidance, she may be able to save herself.

Saving Grace: Season 2 follows the continued adventures of Grace as she deals with her turbulent relationship with fellow detective Ham, her friends’ Doug and Maggie’s impending wedding, the ever-present fear of death for Grace’s friend Leon, the day-to-day drama of working with homicides, the constantly lurking memory of the 1993 Oklahoma City bombing and of course, Grace’s journey through faith. While just as intense as the first season, Season Two builds on the spiritual questions and character-centric stories that the series is known for.

The cast of Saving Grace is phenomenal, led by Holly Hunter’s believable, relate-able performance as Grace. Other key performances include Leon Rippy (Earl) and Bokeem Woodbine (Leon), who have amazing intensity and chemistry on screen that make their semi-intellectual conversations about death, life and faith resonate with viewers and force them to reflect on their own lives. Kenny Johnson (”Ham”) has perfect chemistry with Hunter and delivers a heartfelt performance as a passionate detective who must balance his odd, off-again, on-again physical relationship with Grace while still maintaining a certain level of professionalism.

While the plots of Saving Grace seem a little soap opera-like and can occasionally become diluted and slow-paced, each episode is packed with some of the most amazing character development and complex character relationships on television. While the plot can occasionally became inaccessible for me, the characters kept pulling me in and forcing me to keep watching on the edge of my seat just to see what would happen next in the crazy, dramatic world of these characters. The series ends with a bang that will leave viewers moved and emotionally drained.

This DVD set includes all 14 episodes from Season 2, in widescreen format. The set also includes two featurettes that document the many successes of Saving Grace — both on television and in the person lives of the actors — and a Hollywood-style wrap party where the cast reflects on the series’ second season. While these features give an interesting look into the heart behind the drama, it just seems like there could have been more to it — maybe some episode commentary, more behind-the-scenes footage or even a few deleted or extended scenes that just didn’t make the final cut.

I also personally enjoyed the fact that this series is set in Oklahoma City rather than in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, or one of the typical locations for cop dramas. Having this unique setting helped to bring something new to a seemingly worn out (and overdone) genre.

Saving Grace: Season 2 is a great series for fans of character-driven dramas and cop-associated shows that have a little more depth to them than just figuring out who-dunnit. Each episode delivers a thrilling emotional ride that will stick with viewers long after they turn off the television.

A second great season
I’m in love with this series. I thought it would be a joke (”a cop gets advice from an angel”), but I have no trouble accepting the angel (”Earl”) as the real thing, or a figment of Grace’s imagination; it really doesn’t matter! Serious issues, tense drama, great acting (even from Laura San Giacomo (sp?)).

Best of the best
A gutsy, earthy, marvelously acted series. So unusual for TV. Holly Hunter is perfect for the part of Grace and I LOVE Earl.

Amazon.com
The first of the 14 episodes in this second season of TNT’s Saving Grace certainly hits the ground running: Detective Grace Hanadarko, the character portrayed so vividly by Holly Hunter, has already had a beer, maybe two, for breakfast when she gets into a wild shootout with a wanted murderer on the streets of Oklahoma City, followed by a foot chase that ends with the bad guy leaping to his death. Clearly, Hanadarko’s life is anything but usual. As was the case last season, she still drinks and smokes too much, still lies way too often, and is still carrying on with a married fellow cop; she can also still be abrasive and off-putting in both her professional and personal life. But underneath Grace’s tough-chick facade and rock-hard bod (which Hunter again displays to the extent that basic cable will allow) beats a wounded heart. She remains haunted by her history of childhood molestation, as well as by the death of her sister Mary Francis in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (it doesn’t help that some, including family members, blame her for her sister’s being in the Murrah Federal Building on that fateful day). And she still loves, as her “last-chance angel” Earl (Leon Rippy) puts it, “with a fierce, white-hot, mighty love.”

Saving Grace is again largely about Hunter (no surprise there–the Oscar®-winning actress is also an executive producer); in fact, with the help of the plain-spoken, immensely appealing Earl, Grace may be on the verge of discovering just what God’s plan for her is. But there are also noteworthy developments involving other characters. Her lover, Ham Dewey (Kenny Johnson), is in the process of divorcing his wife, although whether that bodes well for him and Grace is uncertain. One of her brothers, her dead sister’s widower, is about to remarry. And the fates of the pervert priest Father Murphy (Rene Auberjonois) and Death Row convict Leon Cooley (Bokeem Woodbine), both of whom have something important in common with Grace, are resolved–the latter in the final episode, which is perhaps the most moving in the series so far. The weekly storylines (mostly involving homicides) aren’t nearly as memorable as the characters, but the latter easily separate this smart, well-written show from the rest of the cop-show crowd. The paltry bonus material includes two so-so featurettes. –Sam Graham

Stills from Saving Grace: Season Two (Click for larger image)

Legally Blonde Description:

She’s a California sorority girl who’ll do anything to keep her man. Even if it means going all theway’to law school! Reese Witherspoon (Election) stars with Luke Wilson (Charlie’s Angels), Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions), Matthew Davis (Pearl Harbor) and Victor Garber (Titanic) in a knock-out comedy with a heart of goldand hair to match! Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is a California blonde with couture clothes, fabulous friends and the hottest boyfriend on campus. So when Warner Huntington III (Davis) suddenly dumps her and heads for Harvard Law School, Elletakes matters into her own perfectly manicured hands. She enrolls too! Now getting Warner back should be a snap, right? Wrong! Elle’s about to begin the toughest fight of her lifefor love, honor, justice and respect for blondes everywhere!

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1251 in DVD
• Brand: WITHERSPOON,REESE
• Released on: 2001-11-06
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Full Screen, Closed-captioned, Color, Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 96 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 9780792851202
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Don’t let looks deceive you!!!!
Let me begin by saying I am not normally a fan of the “Clueless” type character, but this is far from what I expected going into this movie. Reese Witherspoon’s character “Elle” is a sweet, funny, smart and completely likeable character and has you caring for her and rooting for her to win and prove everyone wrong. After being dumped by her boyfriend Warner because he thought she wasn’t smart enough for a future lawyer or senator, she follows him to Harvard determined to win him back. While she struggles with fitting in, she slowly wins over several of her classmates, and proves she is no dumb blonde. This movie is fun, and well worth seeing. I was skeptical about this movie, but don’t let the trailer and bad critic reviews turn you off of this bright and funny film.

Preposterous but Oh So Blonde
As a blonde myself, I really should have been offended by this feature-length blonde joke, but hey, this flick is first-rate fluff. Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a self-absorbed sorority president and fashion major who expects to marry her college sweetheart Warner (Matthew Davis). When Warner dumps her because she isn’t the perfect accompaniment to his expected Harvard Law degree (too much Marilyn Monroe and not enough Jackie Kennedy), her whole world crashes around her until the solution hits her: Why doesn’t she become the woman Warner wants by following him to Harvard Law School? To Elle, who has a specialty in The History of Polka Dots, this seems like a no-brainer, and since she doesn’t seem to know how to use her brain, the hilarity begins. She manages to get into Harvard through a brazen video, great LSAT’s (for which she actually studied), and by stunning every last member of the admissions committee.

Who cares about realism when you’ve got a clueless blonde mixing with over-achieving, nerdy law students? The always popular Elle becomes the class outcast, with a tongue-tied, good-hearted manicurist (played memorably by Jennifer Coolidge) as her only friend. Director Luketic deserves enormous credit for keeping Elle’s core personality intact despite the intellectual transformation; the sight of her colorful iMac in the sea of charcoal gray laptops is pitch-perfect as a symbol of her increasing seriousness but unwillingness to give into the nerd culture. In her sorority house, Elle is but one of many blondes. At Harvard, she is an individualist.

This film is completely preposterous and doesn’t care - that’s the fun of it. Although the eventual triumph of Elle is predictable, how she gets there is not, making this film enjoyable every step of the way. The script is surprisingly smart for fluff and is a huge reason for the success of this extended blonde joke.

For mindless entertainment, you can’t beat this film. “Legally Blonde” is one of those guilty pleasures you might hate to admit having. Remember, you can always watch it in the privacy of your own home where no one but your closest relatives can hear you laugh at the antics of Elle Woods.

Cute fun movie
Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a perky, popular blonde who expects her boyfriend will propose to her the night the movie starts but instead he dumps her because he thinks she’s not smart enough and he’ll need a smart woman if he wants to run for political office by the time he’s 30. Elle loves him and figures the way to get him back is to prove to him that she’s smart and to do that, she figures the perfect way would be to get into Harvard Law School where coincidentally her now ex-boyfriend is going. She takes an exam and makes a video for Harvard to see. Surprisingly, she ends up getting in. She doesn’t fit in there since her Harvard class-mates are more laid back with their clothing and attitude then Elle is. Elle finds out that her ex-boyfriend has dumped her for a girl that he dated before her. He even calls his new girl the pet name that he used for Elle right in front of Elle. Still Elle is determined to win her man back. To do that, she applies for and gets an internship with her professor’s law firm. Her ex-boyfriend and his current girlfriend are on the team too. They help in a case of a woman accused of killing her husband. The woman accused of murder is the person who used to teach Elle’s exercise class. Elle knows she’s innocent but no one on the team thinks so. Can Elle save her former exercise teacher and prove to her ex-boyfriend, her Harvard Law associates and herself that she’s not a dumb blonde? She had gotten straight As and was articulate. If she had been doing poorly and was a bad speaker and then suddenly improved when she got into Harvard, it would have been less believable though a fashion major getting in Harvard Law is still a stretch. It’s a very cute movie. It seemed like it could have even gotten a G rating. It might have had a couple profanities but that was it. No sex or violence. The movie was much better than I thought it would be. It was cleverly written in some parts and Reese Witherspoon gave a great performance in it.

Amazon.com
If you’ve ever doubted how much a star can carry a movie, look no further than Legally Blonde, Robert Luketic’s pop fluff about a sorority girl who becomes the reigning brain at Harvard Law School. The film tries way too hard to be pop fluff, but thankfully it also understands the comic glories of Reese Witherspoon. As Elle Woods, the supposedly dimwitted heroine, Witherspoon gives a high-wattage performance that somehow comes across as both lusciously cartoonish and warmly human. It’s a radiant comic turn worthy of Marilyn Monroe, and Luketic throws the whole movie at her, even though its intentional kitsch and sledgehammer contrivances don’t trust you enough to figure out on your own what might be guilty fun about it. It’s a lame movie, essentially, that redeems itself by knowing just enough to keep things sunny and moving right along. The film is content to follow several steps behind the regal Witherspoon, carrying her train. You probably will be, too. –Steve Wiecking

From The New Yorker
The fabulous Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a West Coast sorority queen, follows her escaping boyfriend to Harvard Law School, where she shows up wearing leather and carrying a Chihuahua in her arms. The first-time director Robert Luketic displays a talent for candied artifice and gentle parody: the scenes in the sorority house are so stylized they could be out of an old M.G.M. musical, complete with pink-on-pink décor and squealing girls who are both silly and likable. But “Legally Blonde” collapses very quickly into low-grade farce. Almost everyone at Harvard is a jerk or a phony, and the plot, including a murder trial, is sitcom-obvious. See it only for the talented Witherspoon, who manages to embody the Cosmo girl, Lancômed to the hilt. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Stargate SG-1 - Season 10 Description:

The final Season comes to DVD! In season 10, Vala, a former Goa’uld host turned freedom-fighter, joins SG-1 in their battle to defend the galaxy from the holy war of the Ori. Meanwhile, relations between the Jaffa and Earth continue to be strained. It all comes to a sizzling end on the finale.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1141 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2007-07-24
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 871 minutes

Customer Reviews:

The End of an Era
I remember the original Stargate SG-1 movie and while it was good, I think Richard Dean Anderson and Daniel Shanks made a better team than Kurt Russell and James Spader. Stargate offered an exciting journey to distant lands in a blink of an eye and the journey was usually quick, saving more time for adventure.

But after season 8, Stargate got too familiar, always fighting the Gu’ald. The addition of Ben Browder and Claudia Black seemed too reminiscent of Farscape. But the addition of the Ori as a new formidable opponent made the series sizzle again!

Season 10 continues Stargate SG-1’s battle against the Ori, one of the most powerful enemies ever concocted. The search for Merlin’s weapon against the Ancients that would also destroy the Ori leads one on a quest where even the Gu’ald team up with the SG-1 team to help defeat the Ori. The Ori can transform humans into their oracles and spokesmen and it is interesting to see Daniel Jackson as an Ori. But buy the DVD and see what happens next!

Stargate SG-1 may not be the cleverest series, but it offered quality entertainment to the family for 10 years. I doubt if StarWars could continue as good a series for 10 years. Even though the 100th and 200th episodes were campy and goofy, the 200th episode did have references to Farscape and a tongue-in-cheek view of the show. Stargate offered a look inside each character and although we hoped something would happen between Jack O’Neal and Samantha Carter, it was nice to see Daniel Jackson and Vala as a couple. The show’s ending was bittersweet but it’s nice to know that there will be movies following.

The series finale did not go out in a bang, or a whimper. It was tastefully done and unexpected. There was a LOT of loose ends and I hope the movies will resolve these. I will get Season 10 to finalize my box set collection. You should too because it will become a SciFi classic!

A fun and dignified final season to Sci-fi longest continuously running series
Warning! Many spoilers!

Additional Warning: Thanks to Canadian and British television, the final episodes of STARGATE SG-1 have already been shown through much of the world. The following review is based on having seen everything including the series finale.

And so after an amazing ten year run, STARGATE SG-1 comes to a dignified end. Sorta. Plans for a couple of TV movies are already in the works, so the plot ends that are left somewhat open at the end of the series will probably be resolved at that time. It is hard at this point to know what the show’s legacy will be. It never received the critical acclaim that series like FARSCAPE, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, FIREFLY, or even BABYLON 5 received, and one can’t point to specific ways that it has altered or molded other Sci-Fi series, but simply being around for a decade is unprecedented in Sci-fi. Yeah, DR. WHO has been around longer, but its presence has been far more episodic and it has sometimes been prey to a budget smaller than a kids’ show (though certainly this is not the case for its present incarnation). It certainly did a number of things right. The writing remained strong throughout. The production values were strong from beginning to end. And if it never scaled the peaks of brilliance of other series it still managed to produce many memorable moments. Perhaps its legacy is something to be set aside for a decade or so.

What is amazing is that the tenth season was a largely successful effort at self-recreation. Season Nine had been plagued by pregnancy. Both Amanda Tapping and Claudia Black (and some of the outfits Ms. Black wore in Season Ten reveal that she has fully recovered from having given birth–the highlight of Season Ten might have been the outfit she wore in the high school reunion episode from near the end of the season) had children during that season. I’m a huge fan of kids and having babies, but it doesn’t mesh well with making TV shows. Tapping was missing for the early part of the season and Black for most of the middle. Both were present for the entirety of Season Ten. Black’s real life pregnancy fed into the plot of Season Ten, with her giving birth to a mystical child who became the super-empowered leader of the Ori. Adria (played by Monica Baccarin, Inara from FIREFLY) grew into a full-grown woman with overwhelming powers in a matter of weeks. Throughout the season SG-1 has to struggle against their most powerful foe yet, who nonetheless harbors affection towards her mother, hoping to convert her to a belief in the Ori.

What makes Season Ten work for me above all else is Claudia Black as Vala. Although I have long been a fan of the show, I’ve long felt that there was a central problem in the core cast. Though Richard Dean Anderson’s Jack O’Neill was ever the wise cracker, there was a lack of genuine humor at the core of the show and despite the implied attraction between O’Neill and Samantha Carter, no real romantic chemistry. But Vala is really, truly funny and a real sex post as well. And it was brilliant to team her with the wound-too-tight Daniel Jackson rather than Col. Mitchell (which would have been expected, since Black and Ben Browder portrayed what was perhaps THE great romantic couple in all of TV Sci-fi, Aeryn Sun and John Crichton on FARSCAPE). Vala and Jackson are great together, with the unconventional and free-spirited Vala both appealing to and threatening the Boy Scout Jackson. As a huge fan of Claudia Black’s Aeryn Sun, who was a stern and serious character, it was delightful seeing her be such a goofball on this show. All in all, her character brought a bit of anarchism that was frequently lacking on the show. If I have a regret with the series coming to an end, it is in not knowing what happens to her next. In one of the most endearing touches of the season, the Stargate program only very gradually decides to allow Vala to become a part of the SG-1 team. The season’s opening credits start off with the main four marching through the gate, but the week after she is allowed to join, just as the four start to walk through, Vala scampers up to join them.

The main plot for the final season focused on the ongoing struggle against the Ori, a group of ultra religious fanatics. With religious fundamentalism dominating both domestic and international news, with both Christian fundamentalists in the US trying to force public opinion to conform with their beliefs and Islamic fundamentalists trying to force the rest of Islam to conform with their violent and intolerant readings of the Koran (readings that the vast majority of Muslims do not agree with), nothing could be more relevant than intolerant religious zealots who are willing to kill those who do not agree with them.

There were some significant farewells in Season Ten. Samantha’s father, who had seen his life extended several years by accepting a symbiote and becoming a member of the Tok’ra, finally did die. And not only Thor, but also the entirety of the Asgard died as well.

Although STARGATE SG-1 was noted for its huge, epic, cliffhanging finales, the series finale was surprisingly subdued and quiet. But also, I thought, remarkably appropriate. I’m sure there was the temptation of a “Big Ending,” but instead they decided to focus instead on a relatively unspectacular, intimate episode in which time is essentially frozen for a few decades. The main five simply spend some time together, while Vala and Daniel actually live a life of romantic bliss. Typically, they manage a brilliant scientific solution to their dilemma at the end, with only Teal’c retaining any memory of the preceding decades. As the show ends he smiles bemusedly as Vala and Daniel fall into their bickering ways. But we know the potential that remains.

So, a classic series comes to an end. It wasn’t the best Sci-fi series ever. It wasn’t the most ground breaking. And it isn’t likely to be one of the more influential. But it was the longest running uninterrupted Sci-fi series in the history of Sci-fi and introduced us to a host of memorable characters. Yeah, it had some unpleasant quirks. It used “Science as Magic” to such a degree that it almost became a parody of itself. It reused plots endlessly. I mean, just how many alternate universe episodes did we really need? And how many times were there multiple copies of the same character? (I suspect that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s refusal to use the same plot device twice or to EVER employ science in magical fashion owes a great deal to the abuse of both by SG-1.) Still, the show took us to a host of wonderful places, introduced us to some wonderful enemies, and continually managed to entertain and delight. And we got to know the core group of characters quite well. Not many shows get ten seasons; even fewer manage ten seasons so well. The show was starting to seem a bit old by the end, but it managed to do what almost no series ever gets to do: last ten years and still have something left in the tank at the end.

STARGATE-SG1
How can anywone deny the greatness of this series from the beginning to it’s end.. Yes i know i sound like too much of a fan, however to a lot of guys out their like me it was memorable series one in which i spent every single year of it’s existence looking forward to the next episode true they did a lot of parody’s of themselves and quite frankly parts of the series did at times seem to languish in it’s own greatnes… I know, I know it sounds too much of a ringing endorsement of this series, but truth be told the series was pretty consistent and most of it’s theories seemed to be based on plausible theories… Well for the most part, it did everything one could imagine for a series it had a great beginning, well put together center and by that i mean the middle years of the entire series. To which it develloped all the possible characters of that particular universe…Also it had the sort of ending fitting that of a great series… Leading one to want more… Unlike another famous series that ended, well horribly to say the least… Hmm let me think which one could that be that ended horribly during that period…

P.S.. A mark of a truely great series is to be able to generate a spin off series while the main series is still on going…..

I can honestly say i was completely satisfied, I just wanted more…and by that i meant another season, I really wanted to see the entire thing resolved or something from the other sides perspective…. Sort of like what if they actually won and by that i mean the ORI.

Amazon.com
If this five-disc, 20-episode, tenth season set really is the end of Stargate SG-1–and considering the number of reprieves the show has already had and the rumors of various movie spin-offs, not to mention the fact that the final installment is entitled “Unending,” who knows?–then the folks responsible for this durable sci-fi series can be proud that they finished it off in style, with a run of episodes that are for the most part highly entertaining, exciting, and fun, offering resolution if not complete closure. And if sharks were jumped, at least they were small ones. As was the case in Season 9, and to a large extent in Season 8 as well, original series star Richard Dean Anderson is little in evidence here. Portraying Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Ben Browder, who came to Stargate SG-1 from the underrated Farscape, is now entrenched as leader of SG-1, the Stargate project’s ace team in the field, joining series veterans Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Michael Shanks (as Samantha Carter, Teal’c, and Daniel Jackson, respectively). Most notably, fellow Farscape alum Claudia Black has an ever-expanding role as Vala, whose cheeky wit and irreverence bring a consistent spark to the proceedings. The big, bad villains known as Ori are back as well. We still can’t see them–they are, after all, “ascended beings,” represented by the blind, monk-like Priors, who roam the universe intoning “Hallowed are the Ori” and ensuring that all will submit to their will (the element of scary religious fanaticism remains as relevant as ever). But the Ori are also still the most implacable, irresistible force our heroes have ever encountered; nothing less than the fate of the entire galaxy is at stake (again)! And now there’s an added twist: the Ori have a frontwoman, if you will, whose powers make the Priors look like pikers. Known as Adria (or “the Orici” to believers), this beautiful young woman (played by Morena Baccarin) also happens to be the daughter of Vala, whom the Ori chose to bring their demon seed into the world; the uneasy (to say the least) Adria-Vala relationship provides many intriguing moments. On the minus side, the show tends to break its own rules (for instance, for a character who’s supposed to be invincible, Adria often seems awfully, well, vincible), and the commingling of Arthurian legend, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myth, magic, and other sources is occasionally over-the-top, even for this franchise. Some episodes are plot-heavy, bogged down by too many characters (past bad guys like the Goa’uld, and Ba’al reappear, as do several Stargate Atlantis principals in one episode) or excessive techno-rap about time dilation fields, flux capacitors, and something called the Clava Thessara Infinitas (don’t ask). Episodes in which the writers move away from the central Ori theme are less than stellar; “200″ exists mostly as an opportunity to make fun of the TV business and is as irrelevant and silly as “Citizen Joe,” the worst episode from Season 8. And finally, without revealing details, suffice to say that “Unending,” which offers a possible fate for our heroes before totally pulling its punches, may frustrate some longtime adherents. By and large, though, Stargate SG-1 has all the elements–humor, action, great effects, good story-telling and acting, characters you care about–to more than justify its ten-year run. It will be missed. Special features are again bountiful, including audio commentary on all episodes, various featurettes, and five “directors series” entries devoted to particular episodes. –Sam Graham

The Bourne Ultimatum Widescreen Edition Description:

Matt Damon returns as highly trained assassin Jason Bourne, who is on the hunt for the agents who stole his memory and true identity. With a new generation of skilled CIA operatives tracking his every move, Bourne is in a non-stop race around the globe as he finally learns the truth behind his mysterious past. Loaded with incredible fight and chase sequences, it’s the exhilarating movie with “mind-blowing action” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) that you can’t afford to miss!

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1088 in DVD
• Brand: DAMON,MATT
• Released on: 2007-12-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 116 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0025193227423
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Rewriting the genre
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy? That would be like crediting “The Matrix” with a satisfying level of originality.

Everything the makers, cast and crew have learned about what makes the Bourne formula tick, and click, is revved to supercharged perfection in this pinnacle of a movie.

More is not always better (Matrix 2?), but with careful attention to detail and a plot that works like a Rolex, Ultimatum’s unrelenting pace never feels overblown. Matt Damon’s impenetrable oasis of razor focus and quiet, seething menace, now seeming to melt glass, finds a new level of counterpoint in this movie. Damon has become so riveting in this role, it’s almost possible to overlook the stellar cast around him, matching step for step in a multi-threaded, multi-tiered, multi-national locomotive of twists and action played out with the orchestration of a Beethoven score.

There’s something just plain admirable about a movie franchise which insists on digging deeper, finding something more, when a cruise-control third installment would have sufficed and certainly made bank anyway.

Another Greengrass Triumph
While it certainly is important that the characters be believable in this kind of film (and they all are quite believable), the star of this film is the incomparable Paul Greengrass who directs this as he did the last and each of his films with a pace and presence that ratchets upwards your gut reaction to the story.
The story itself is the same story as each of the other two: Bourne is pissed about being used and either he’s after the CIA or they are after him. There is some discussion now of an Oedipal subtext to the overall story, and while there is a passing resemblance to that tragedy, it is not anywhere nearly so definite as it was in the last Bond film. Dench and Joan Allen represent Oedipal type mothers, but there was an almost Medea like quality to Dench that took the chemistry between her and Craig someplace else altogether. That isn’t quite the story here, but even were it so, all of that becomes subsumed to the way Greengrass tells the story. This is a thrilling ride that never lets up, and as such, when there are moments of pause, such as those between Stiles and Damon in Morrocco, it is clear that they have nothing to really say. These are characters driven by action - they seem to have warped the Cartesian motif into I act, therefore I am, and more I am only when I act.
You may remember the German film with Famke Jansen, RUN LOLA RUN. Bourne is an American version of that. Greengrass makes the run transcendent. It’s a great film for the summer, now I’m off to Jackie Chan….

Where in the World is Jason Bourne?
(4 1/2 *’s) `The Bourne Ultimatum’ is a non-stop thriller ride that easily propels itself to the top of 2007’s three-peat super summer. The third in the series, Jason Bourne (played superbly by a tough and tormented Matt Damon) still suffers his same identity crisis, this time criss-crossing his way across the globe with breakneck speed. Suspenseful for more than the thrill of the chase, we are given a gripping sense of drama as CIA director, Noah Vosen (played with tough officiousness by David Strathairn in another great performance) and his sparring co-leader, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen in an admirably complex role) come to grips with Bourne and his alleged treason against their assassination operation. Hooking up with a fellow operative Nicky Parsons (a sleight-of-hand Julia Stiles), Bourne and associates provide enough development to keep us guessing throughout.

Besides all of the identity intrigue, the action is relentless without being predictable. All the scenes of chase and violence are fresh and invigorating. Flashbacks from Jason’s fragmented memory add substance to the fray, and the board room tension at control central, both at the CIA and the UK are formidable. Creeping into his memory at various times, senior CIA figure, Dr. Albert Hirsch (in a welcome sunset role by Albert Finney), gives the mystery proper credence. While I found Greengrass’s direction a mastery of timing, drama, and movement, I do have a quibble with the editing. Although an acquired taste, too many scenes are presented as an enhanced blur, both in the thick of the chase and with the flashback sequences. Just as an observation, the revelations presented are satisfying with the resolution of his identity being one of the least compelling.

`The Bourne Ultimatum’ deserves approximately the same accolades as ‘Casino Royale (2-Disc Full Screen Edition)’ with its stunning development, pace, and execution. For those who love action pictures, this film is a list-topping must-see movie.

Amazon.com
The often breathtaking, final installment in the Bourne trilogy finds the titular assassin with no memory closing in on his past, finally answering his own questions about his real identity and how he came to be a seemingly unstoppable killing machine. Matt Damon returns for another intensely physical performance as Jason Bourne, the rogue operative at war with the CIA, which made him who and what he is and managed to kill his girlfriend in the series’ second film, The Bourne Supremacy. Now looking for payback, Bourne goes in search for the renegade chief of CIA operations in Europe and North Africa, partnering for a time with a mysterious woman from his past (Julia Stiles) and constantly–constantly–on the run from assassins, intelligence foot soldiers, and cops. Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93) with the director’s thrilling, trademark textures and shaky, documentary style, The Bourne Ultimatum is largely a succession of action scenes that reveal a lot about the story’s characters while they’re under duress. Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, and Paddy Considine comprise the film’s terrific supporting cast, and the well-traveled movie leads viewers through Turin, Madrid, Tangiers, Paris, London, and New York. Overall, this is a satisfying conclusion to Bourne’s exciting and protracted mystery. –Tom Keogh

Beyond The Bourne Ultimatum on DVD

More Bourne

More Action from Universal Studios

More Matt Damon

Stills from The Bourne Ultimatum (Click for larger image)

Amazon.com
The often breathtaking, final installment in the Bourne trilogy finds the titular assassin with no memory closing in on his past, finally answering his own questions about his real identity and how he came to be a seemingly unstoppable killing machine. Matt Damon returns for another intensely physical performance as Jason Bourne, the rogue operative at war with the CIA, which made him who and what he is and managed to kill his girlfriend in the series’ second film, The Bourne Supremacy. Now looking for payback, Bourne goes in search for the renegade chief of CIA operations in Europe and North Africa, partnering for a time with a mysterious woman from his past (Julia Stiles) and constantly–constantly–on the run from assassins, intelligence foot soldiers, and cops. Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93) with the director’s thrilling, trademark textures and shaky, documentary style, The Bourne Ultimatum is largely a succession of action scenes that reveal a lot about the story’s characters while they’re under duress. Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, and Paddy Considine comprise the film’s terrific supporting cast, and the well-traveled movie leads viewers through Turin, Madrid, Tangiers, Paris, London, and New York. Overall, this is a satisfying conclusion to Bourne’s exciting and protracted mystery. –Tom Keogh

Beyond The Bourne Ultimatum on DVD

More Bourne

More Action from Universal Studios

More Matt Damon

Stills from The Bourne Ultimatum (Click for larger image)

Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem Extreme Unrated Set + Digital Copy Blu-ray Product: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem Extreme Unrated Set + Digital Copy Blu-ray-Retail $39.99! Sale Only $13.49! List Price: $39.99 Amazon Price: $13.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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Disc 1: Widescreen Feature Rated and Unrated Versions ***Commentary by Directors Colin and Greg Strause and writer Shane Salerno **Commentary by Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis Wayland Yutani Archives **D-Box **BD-Live Portal **Deleted Scene with Optional Director Commentary: 121-124 Extended Power Plant **Trailers: Jumper Blu-ray, Babylon AD Blu-ray, Hit Man Blu-ray **Fox on Blu-Ray: Alien Vs. Predator, Behind Enemy Lines, Planet of the Apes, Transporter

Disc 2: Digital Copy

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1836 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2008-04-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish, French
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 94 minutes

AVP: Ridiculous
Let me begin this review by explaining to those who may not know, that there are a series of very well written AVP books. The central figure is a woman named Machiko Noguchi, who works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation. The series starts off on a colony world, and long story short, much like the original AVP movie, Machiko is blooded as a Predator warrior. But where the first AVP movie made an uninspiring choice, in the AVP books, Machiko joins the predators on their hunts across the galaxy, which makes for a gripping story with her internal conflicts between her loyalty to the predators, her hatred of the aliens, and her heritage as a human. They’re really well done, and I highly recommend them:

1. Prey (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 1)
2. Hunter’s Planet (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 2)
3. War (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 3)

So, given this context, I found the first AVP movie to be by far the most closely aligned with this vision of AVP, although disappointing that it stopped short of carrying through with the theme described in the novels. Not surprisingly, I found the second AVP movie (requiem), to not only be an unfaithful extension of that theme and a complete deviation from previously understood Alien canon, but also an utter mess of a movie in general.

I would rank the Alien movies as follows:

1. Aliens (*****)
2. Alien (*****)
3. AVP 1 (***)
4. Alien 3 (**)
5. Alien Resurrection (**)
6. AVP Requiem (*)

To provide additional insight about my view of this movie, I own all previously released Alien movies, but have no intention of wasting my money on this one. Furthermore, after I’d finished viewing this movie at the theatre, I was actually incensed as I told myself that I’d just lost 101 minutes of my life that I could never get back.

Do yourself a favor - spend some quality time with a friend or family member, go out to a nice restaurant, or read a good book (such as those I’ve listed above), but DO NOT waste some of your precious time on this Earth watching this stinker.

Thanks goodness I’m not the only one who thinks they need to watch this with night vision
This is one of the worst films I have ever seen (try to see) and a shameful abuse of one of the greatest movie monsters of all time. The Alien is no longer scary. Gone is the elegance. Gone is the menace and chilling patience. Made by people who know how to make FX but have no real idea about how to make a movie. I sometimes wondered if they were making fun of what had gone before, like a Zucker/Abrams flick as it seemed to veer into what could be construed as parody. Sadly, no.

I knew going in it would be bad, and that it would probably be yet another nail in the coffin of my favorite sci-fi sequels (”Alien” in my case, though I do enjoy the “Predator” films). I had seen the “redband” trailer, and stared in horror at its frenetic menagerie of 80s teen slasher clichés; I even watched the “exclusive” online clip of the film’s first five minutes, and hoped that they had been edited down from a better-paced original (as it turned out, they had not). But even so, I gave the movie a shot. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps because if a beloved artifice that one has admired for years is to be systematically dismantled and thrown on the trash heap, one should be there to watch it burn. At least, I thought, with my expectations this low, this movie’s directors would have to try very hard to undercut them.

They did. I mean really, they must have tried hard. It takes some kind of effort to take two of the most durable mythologies in modern scifi and make them a backdrop to a pizza guy’s coming of age. Seriously. That is the only discernible story-arc in this entire film. Truth be told I could forgive even that if the characters hadn’t came pre-assembled right out of the teen movie stock barrel. Instead this film spends 40 minutes trying to make us care whether Smarmy Teen gets it off with Hot Blonde before Blond Bully Ex-Boyfriend finds out. Thank God he has Troubled Ex-Con Brother (who trumps in along with his buddy, Nice Cop) to help him out once the aliens (who arrive courtesy of “disturbing” evisceration of Happy Hunting Dad and his son, Curious Preteen) start to take out the population (such as Mumbling Bum Who No One Will Ever Believe and Dense Cop Who Keeps Looking In The Dark After Everyone Else Has Left). They soon meet up with Screaming Bereft Mother and Military Chick, who saves her daughter Cute Little Girl after her husband Wussy New Man is vivisected in line with tradition.

Honestly, with this zoo of automated plot-bots to manage, how do the aliens and the predators (actually a Predator) get a look in? Well in truth, they don’t. Very little time is spent developing either character (and let’s face it, since neither character actually talks, that isn’t surprising) and any tension built up between them is quickly dissipated as the film returns to the interminable “I Know What You Did Last Summer” slasher plot. I’m not sure what sort of budget this had but you can see that money spent on each subsequent Alien or Predator film is getting less & less, with average special effects, no name actors, bland locations & surprisingly cheap looking production values. Please stop embarrassing yourselves even further.

Like watching a movie with your eyes closed
When AVP went into production fans of both the Alien and Predator movies were very excited, but a little hope was lost when it was announced Paul WS Anderson was the writer/director; but what really got fans going crazy was when the rating was PG-13. While one cannot deny there were flaws with AVP it had more to do with the writing than anything else. Anderson’s scripts often feel like an early draft rather than final shooting script. All the Alien and Predator movies were R-rated and no doubt AVP should have as well, but when all was said and done the PG-13 rating isn’t what hurt AVP. Yes it could have used more gore and action, but the problems again were with the writing.

With AVP-R announced without Paul Anderson being involved and the movie being made with an R-Rating fans were once again excited. And to be totally honest after watching AVP-R I think I’d much rather have Paul Anderson involved. AVP-R was a rather poor movie, while there was potential without Anderson I really think we would have been better off with him.

The biggest problem with AVP-R is the lighting. Daniel Pearl was the DP and from what I have seen from him I have liked. He did the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre so right there he gets my respect, but the lighting here was terrible. There was more gore than AVP, but we can’t see it! I don’t know if Daniel Pearl was to blame or if it was Colin & Greg Strause who are the directors are too blame. Since Pearl is the DP I have to blame him. Watching this movie at times is sort of like watching a movie with your eyes closed. That was the biggest problem here, but not the only problem.

The screenplay by Shane Salerno was terrible. There were far too many characters to keep track of and all were so poorly written and lack any depth at all. AVP-R is the type of movie that when all is said and done you’ll be hard pressed to remember the names of any of the characters. The script was really poor. It’s like Shane Salerno didn’t even bother to try. We have the fan base for the Alien and Predator movies and well they’ll see anything we spit out. Once again Hollywood treats us like idiots.

Directors Colin & Greg Strause fail at brining any suspense and tension and with the terrible lighting not much of a surprise their scenes lack any of that. The action scenes are decent, but again since we can barley see them they fail at brining any excitement. There were a couple of solid scenes, but not nearly enough to salvage this movie. Had I actually been able to see what was happening maybe AVP-R wouldn’t have failed as much as it did; by no means would this be a great movie, but slightly better. The final act is the worst offender; the scenes in the hospital for the climax are so dark that if you have any interest left in the movie by this point you’ll probably lose it.

AVP-R proved that the rating of AVP had nothing to do with its failure. Would an R-rating have made AVP better? Odds are yes very slightly better, but no way would it have been great. Like I said earlier the PG-13 rating didn’t hurt AVP as much as the writing and this movie proved that. AVP-R was R-rated and wasn’t as good as AVP, which was average at best. A lot has changed over the years, back in the 70s and 80s many movies were butchered by the MPAA and if released now most of these titles would clear and R-rating with ease and some would feature minor cuts and not be totally butchered. If AVP was released back in the 80s or mid 90s it would possibly get an R-rating.

Times have changed though and AVP pulled off the PG-13, but it is slightly more extreme than most PG-13 flicks. Paul Anderson is hated by legions of Horror/Sci-Fi fans and while I can’t say I like the guys work I don’t hate it. I can tolerate him, but barley. And honestly I never thought I would say to myself I wish Paul Anderson did this and while watching AVP-R I found myself wishing Anderson would have done it.

These cross over movies almost always seem to fail. Back in the 40s Universal did it with their monster movies and while some were fun none of them were as good as the monsters on their own. So when it came to AVP I wasn’t expecting anything like the movies from either series. Besides being a Vs movie it’s also a sequel to both Alien and Predator and honestly with some exceptions as a series goes on they don’t get better they might stay enjoyable if lucky. With AVP-R I was simply expecting some mindless fun, and while it was very mindless the makers forgot about the fun part.

For the hardcore fans of the Alien and Predator movies are the only ones who should watch this, but I doubt this movie will live up to your expectations. This one doesn’t correct the problems found in AVP it just creates its own and far worse problems. With better lighting AVP-R would have been better, but still not very good either.