Thursday UPDATE

"Today I have received an Australian horror film and a forgotten action film from the 90s."

"Wolf Creek is one of those films you either like or hate, it has a lot of padding in the first hour but in the 40 minutes after that, things start to kick off. It states that these are based on true events, this may be very loosely or none at all like the Texas chainsaw massacre for the shock value. I recommended it to horror fans that are into the slasher genre, recently Wolf Creek 2 was released."

 

"The Perfect Weapon is a great action film with spectacular martial arts from it's star, Jeff Speakman. You are likely wondering who is Jeff Speakman? Well he is an international Kenpo master that could have been famous if it weren't for his choice of films after this one. Jeff Speakman has more screen presence than Steven Seagal, so I am more than a little baffled that his career didn't take off. Still we are left with this great film and with quite a few familiar faces like for example Mako who appeared in the Conan films. The only film to date to show off Kenpo and this film pulled it off better than Seagal's film Above the Law which showcased Aikido. Highly recommended to action fans."




Andrew

The Beverly Hills Cop Series: Beverly Hills Cop

"A classic from the 80s which made Eddie Murphy a star, the music, the action and the jokes make this film an 80s action comedy classic."

Plot;


In the opening scene we see detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) undercover trying to deal in cigarettes, but when two police officers ask what is happening it results in a high speed chase ending up with many vehicles bing damaged. Foley's inspector (Gil Hill) warns him that if he continues this sort of behaviour he will fire him. Axel then returns home to his apartment to find someone has broken in, it is his friend Michael Tandino (James Russo). Micheal has done his time in prison and he tells Axel he is now working as a security guard in Beverly Hills. Michael then shows Axel some German bearer bonds but Foeley doesn't want to know anything about them. After a trip to the bar they return to Axel's place where two men appear and knock out Axel. They two men find out that Michale took the bearer bonds from his boss Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), they beat Michael up and then shoot him.

Hey man, i'm from Buffalo!

Axel wants to go to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his friend but Inspector Todd does not want him to go. Axel decides to use his vacation time to go to Beverly hills to investigate. He finds his friend Jenny (Lisa Eilbacher) working in an art gallery and he finds out that he had ties to Victor Maitland. Axel pretends to be a Flower delivery man to gain access to Maitland's office. He tries to question Victor on the murder of Michael but is taken downstairs and thrown through a glass window by his bodyguards. He is then arrested, at the police station he meets police officers Sergeant John Taggart, Detective Billy Rosewood, and Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil. Lt. Andrew teels Jon and Billy to follow Axel, they get into a few encounters including stopping an armed robbery at a stripclub, they become friends. 

Axel trying to find Michael's killers he goes to a warehouse where he finds coffee which is used to hide the scent of the drugs underneath. He also finds out that his boxes do not go into customs to get searched. Foley goes to the country club where Victor is and gets into a fight with one of his bodyguards he is then arrested again. Lt. Andrew wants to know why Axel keeps bothering Victor, he tells them that Victor is a smuggler but he is still unsure what he is smuggling. Andrew believes his story but cannot do a search because of lack of hard evidence. The chief then arrives and demands Axel to be taken out of Beverly Hills by escort. 

Herpes simplex 10.

Axel persuades Billy to pick up Jenny and to go the one of Victor's warehouses. Victor arrives when Axel and Jenny are in the warehouse, Victor takes Jenny and tells his thugs to kill Axel. Billy then goes into the warehouse and rescues Axel. Taggart then finds Axel and Billy in Victor's estate, Taggart then joins them to find Jenny and bring Victor to justice. Lt. Andrew finds out that shots were fired at the Maitland estate he sends in back up and goes to the mansion. After a gun battle with Victor's men Axel kills the man that killed Michael. Victor then shoots Axel and injures him, he uses Jenny as a human shield. Lt. Andrew arrives and distracts Victor long along for Jenny to run away, both Andrew and Axel fire into Maitland until he is dead. 

The chief arrives and asks Andrew what has happened, Andrew lies to cover Axel and his team. They back up the story, Axel asks Andrew to speak to inspector Todd so that he can't get fired. Taggart and Rosewood meet Axel when checks out of his hotel and they pay his bill. Axel then asks them if they want to get a drink on the way there, they both accept.

 Alternate poster.

Extras;

The DVD extras are ported over which contained a director's commentary, 3 featurette's and a trailer. All are go into much detail, it's a shame though that Eddie Murphy is not in any of the extras.


4/5



Picture Quality;

Unfortunately it is a mixed bag, some scenes look great with a nice amount of grain and others look completely devoid of detail due to digital scrubbing. The upside is you will find it is a major upgrade from the DVD so fans should be happy with this release.


Audio Quality;

5.1 DTS HD audio sounds great, the music and dialogue is crystal clear. The Harold Faltermeyer theme sounds great throughout. 


4/5



Overall the film stands the test of time, the story and the characters will keep you hooked until the film ends. The soundtrack may not hold up as well but the theme is a classic. A top performance from Eddie in was one of his best comedic roles. A must see for people who are into 80s action/comedy films.




Highly Recommended!

 



Andrew

Monday UPDATE

"No movie review today, a Harrison Ford action classic and Tom Hanks' latest critically acclaimed film on Blu-ray."

"Air force one was one of the biggest action films of the 90s and it could have only been made in the 90s. Harrison ford stars as the president of the united states. Air Force One gets taken by Russian terrorists and the president must save his family and the passengers on board. Basically it is Die Hard on a plane. It is a great action film and rivals the best, the score by Jerry Goldsmith is fantastic too. It's definitely worth a watch."

"Tom Hanks is Captain Phillips, he must command a container shipment going to Africa. On the way there though he and his crew are met by Somali pirates where they take hold of the shipment and want money. Captain Phillips plays games with them and ends up being held hostage by the Somali pirates for ransom. Based on a true story (though I don't know how much of it is actually true) Tom Hanks gives one of his best performances and definitely deserved the Oscar nomination."

"A review will be up on Wednesday."

Andrew

The Terminator Series: Terminator 3: Rise of the machines

"The first film in the series not to have James Cameron in the directors chair. A hugely disappointing sequel that doesn't live up to the last two films and is goofy, most of the time."

Plot;


John Connor has been living off the grid since his mother Sarah Connor died of leukemia. Judgment day was prevented and never happened in 1997, John (Nick Stahl) still believes it will happen at a later date. Skynet could not find John Connor in the past so it sends a T-X to kill all of the resistance soldiers, the T-X (Kristanna Loken) is a standard machine underneath but has liquid metal as skin and has the ability to fire weapons from it's hands. The resistance in the future reprogram a terminator (Schwarzenegger) and send it back in time to protect Katherine Brewster (Claire Danes) and John Connor.

 

Your clothes give them to me, now.

The T-X finds out where Katherine and John is and finds them in an animal hospital. The T-X goes to kill them but the terminator shows up to protect them, they drive off while the T-X takes control of cars and a crane.  The Terminator climbs onto the crane where the T-X starts to ram the crane into buildings damaging the terminator, eventually they get away. The Terminator takes them to a mausoleum where Sarah Connor is, The Terminator breaks open the vault and a stack of weapons appear. Sarah hid these weapons in case judgement day happened. The T-X and the police arrive at the scene, the terminator starts a gun battle and they drive off in a hearse. 

 

0.0 causalities

The Terminator must drive to Mexico to escape the fallout when judgement day happens. The Terminator tells them that judgement day will happen at exactly 6:18pm on that day, Kate commands the terminator to take them to see her father because he knows where Skynet is. The Terminator later admits to killing John before he was reprogrammed and Katherine sent him back in time. At the base where Katherine's father is, the president wants them to activate Skynet because of a major computer virus spreading through the system. The Terminator, John and Katherine arrive but it is too late and Skynet is put online. The machines go online and start to kill, Katerine's father gets shot and dies but before he dies he gives John a codebook and the location of Skynet's system core. 

John and Kate go to get an airplane so that they can reach Crystal Peak which is a military base located in the mountains that cannot be destroyed by a nuclear attack. The T-X and the terminator start to fight, the T-X reprograms the terminator to kill John and Katherine. John pleads the terminator to stop and the terminator shuts itself down. The T-X gets attracted to a magnetic field and is trapped. 
 

 

John and Kate arrive at Crystal Peak and start to input the codes to open the doors but the T-X shows up in a helicopter. Moments later the terminator crashes it's helicopter into the T-X cutting it in half. The T-X attempts to kill John and Sarah but the terminator grabs hold of it and keeps the bunker open until they get through. The terminator then uses it's nuclear power cell to kill itself and the T-X. John and Kate then realize that crystal peak is in fact a nuclear fallout shelter and Skynet has no core. 

 

i'm back!

Judgment Day begins and he then realizes that it could not be avoided but only postponed.

Extras;


The UK blu-ray release has a director and cast commentary, storyboards, a documentary, some featurettes, a deleted scene and a blooper reel. A nice set of extras and should please fans of the film. 


5/5


Picture Quality;


The picture quality of this release is nothing short of amazing, great detail and nice colours which are never too overpowering. As with most Sony titles no digital tinkering has been applied.


4.5/5



Audio Quality; 


The 5.1 TrueHD track is nothing short of amazing, you can hear everything so clearly. The terminator soundtrack to the dialogue and sound effects being crystal clear. 


5/5



The film is 50/50. It was the highest budgeted film of it's time and really shows how good the special effects and CGI was. It has some spectacular action scenes for example the crane scene. There is also the constant goofiness in the film from the start when the terminator arrives in the bar to the talk to the hand joke in the petrol station. The film is in no way the perfect sequel but it is watchable, the terminator series was finished when T2 was released as the story was told but this is a popcorn film and is to be enjoyed.




Recommended




Andrew

Double Bronson, Mr. Majestyk and Breakheart Pass coming to Blu-ray

"US distributor Kino are releasing two classic Charles Bronson films on Blu-ray, Mr. Majestyk and Breakheart Pass. Both are expected to be released later this year."


Theatrical Posters;

Cult classic Shock Waves coming to Blu-ray

"The cult classic Shock waves is coming to Blu-ray from Blue underground. It is expected to arrive later this year."


Theatrical Poster;

Pumpkinhead announced for Blu-ray

"Scream factory have announced they are releasing a Blu-ray of Pumpkinhead and its sequel. Pumpkinhead will be a collectors edition so will feature reversible artwork and a slipcover. The US street date is some time in September."

"Here is the newly commissioned artwork."

"Also Ghostbusters II has been announced for release in France with the first film, so there is hope for a release else where in the world. Ghostbusters II is one of the most coveted titles on Blu-ray amongst Bad Boys II and True Lies."