DVD Collectors Online

The Serpent and the Rainbow, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:The Serpent and the Rainbow
Year: 1987
Director: Wes Craven
Rating: R
Length: 98 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Bill Pullman
Cathy Tyson
Zakes Mokae
Paul Winfield
Brent Jennings

Plot:
Wes Craven (The People Under the Stairs, Shocker) directs this terrifying story of one man's nightmarish journey into the eerie and deadly world of voodoo.

A Harvard anthropologist (Bill Pullman) is sent to Haiti to retrieve a strange powder that is said to have the power to bring human beings back from the dead. In his quest to find the miracle drug, the cynical scientist enters the rarely seen netherworld of walking zombies, blood rites and ancient curses.

Based on the true life experiences of Wade Davis and filmed on location in Haiti, it's a frightening excursion into black magic and the supernatural.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers


Inspired by the true story of a doctor who traveled to Haiti to investigate alleged 'Zombie Powder' and it's potential medical applications.

Wes Craven vividly embellishes that story and turns it into a great Voodoo movie.  An early movie for Bill Pullman who I thought did great but the real star of this is Zakes Mokae whom I've always admired as an actor. His portrayal of a 'collector of souls' is brilliant. I saw this movie a couple of times over the years and it still fascinates me.

It's surprising that the active ingredient in the powder, textrodotoxin, which was discovered many years ago hasn't been explored and exploited more since then. It's apparent capability to cause a type of paralysis that can emulate death borders on the fantastical and is likely the closest thing there is to real 'black magic'.

KC


Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on September 28th, 2010)

Wanted, a review by Tom

Title: Wanted
Year: 2008
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Rating: 18
Length: 110 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35
Audio: Japanese: DTS 5.1, English: DTS HD Master Audio, French: DTS 5.1, Italian: DTS 5.1, German: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1
Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
James McAvoy
Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie
Terence Stamp
Thomas Kretschmann

Plot:
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac, with a boss who humiliates him and a cheating girlfriend. His life is going nowhere.
Wes discovers that his estranged father has been brutally murdered and finds himself thrust into a secret society of assassins, called The Fraternity. During his training, at the hands of a skilled mentor named Fox (Angelina Jolie), this once office-bound wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity.
However, with his first assignment, Wes finds out that the only thing more difficult than ending the lives of others, is summoning the courage to take control of his own.

Extras:
BD Live
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Motion Comics
Scene Access
U-Control

I had seen this movie in the cinema and couldn't wait to watch it again. I think it is one of the only decent attempts of making a Matrix like movie since the first Matrix came out (way better than the two Matrix sequels).
When the Blu-ray arrived, I was surprised, that it had a rating of 18 (both British and German, both ratings are printed on the disc). The cinema I had visited plays movies in their original language and usually do not display the rating. I didn't remember that this movie would warrant such a high age restriction, but seeing it again now, I can understand why. There is a lot of bloody violence in it (but nothing which would endanger an US R-Rating ).
I enjoyed this movie just as much as the first time around. Even though the action reminds a little of Matrix, this movie has an interesing story different from Matrix.
But that Angelina Jolie should eat something. I don't remember her seeing as such a stick-figure in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", the last movie I have seen her in.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 24th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

The Incredible Hulk


The Incredible Hulk (Pilot)
In this thrilling two- hour movie, Dr. David Banner inadvertantly exposes himself to a high amount of gamma radiation and is horrified to discover that in moments of frustration and anger he is transformed into the incredibly powerful Hulk. Susan Sullivan guest stars.

My Thoughts:
This was always one of my favorite shows at the time it originally aired. I still enjoy it very much. I like this origin story they made... even if it don't stay accurate to the comics.  At this point I have the first 2 seasons as well as all the TV movies in my collection. But I do hope to get the final 3 seasons eventually.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on February 10th, 2010)