DVD Collectors Online

The Invisible Man, a review by RossRoy

Original Title: The Invisible Man Year: 1933 Country: United States Director: James Whale Rating: NR Length: 386 Min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo Subtitles: French, Spanish

What they say
Renowned acting legend Claude Rains made a remarkable screen debut in The Invisible Man, based on H.G. Well's acclaimed novel. Rains, a mysterious doctor, creates a serum that makes him invisible. But the miraculous potion also has the power to drive him mad, as he discovers when he is forced to commit horrific acts of terror. Directed by the master of the macabre, James Whale, The Invisible Man set the standard for dazzling special effects with ingenious techniques that are still imitated today.

My Thoughts
Another day, another entry in the Classic "Monster" revisit.

Amazing. Not the film, the special effects. This is 1933. They didn't have green screen with CGI.  The feat they pulled of here is mervelous. I was completely taken aback by the special effects the first time The Invisible Man removes his bandages. I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly not for him to actually be invisible (ok ok yes, there are some anomalies that give it away, but shhhh!) Big thumbs up to the special effects team!

As for the film itself, well I'm puzzled. Why was it made part of the Classic Monster Legacy Collection? He's not a monster per-se. There's no reanimating the dead (Frankenstein, Dracula), he's not a long lost living creature (Gill-man), or even a man with a best inside (Wolf Man).. He's simply a scientist who discovered how make himself invisible, and got mad in the process. Nothing monstruous there. Ah well, probably explains why The Invisible Man wasn't in Monster Squad to begin with.

Other than that, it's a decent Mad scientist story. All the elements are there: power hungry, found a special technology/formula to allow him to gain power by questionable means, and he's mad, as well as madly in love (even though this angle is not played too much)!

The movie thrives on the special effects. And they work, really well.





(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on October 18th, 2008)

Inside Llewyn Davis, a review by Antares

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) 76/100 - If this film did one thing for me, it was to make me really miss hearing someone just play a guitar and sing. In the beginning of the film, the Coens capture a time that has long since disappeared. Unfortunately, as the story, if you could call it that, moves along, it kind of loses that tonal quality that made me think that this was going to become my favorite Coen brothers film. Maybe they should have cut the John Goodman subplot and focused on his partner's fate at the beginning, and then segued into Davis' slow descent into obscurity. At least the storyline would have had a modicum of structure to it. Maybe I'll like it better after a second viewing, which has become commonplace for me with other Coen brothers films.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on June 11th, 2014)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Rick

The Deal
A bit intense I thought. Off character for the series in general. I did enjoy it though. Very much.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on July 27th, 2009)