DVD Collectors Online

Harry Brown, a review by Jon

Harry Brown
3 out of 5

[understament]Harry, is not best pleased[/understatement].

The actor who played Jack Carter? A character who is an ex-Marine with a grudge? Going all Gran TorinoGran TorinoGet Carter in the lead is an ace and the rest of the cast are excellent and also avoid stereotypes, especially Joe Cornish in a small role; I know him from soap-land and he is also great in This Is England

(From "Fancy the pictures, me Duck?": The British Film Marathon on February 6th, 2011)

Flags of Our Fathers, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:Flags of Our Fathers
Year: 2006
Director: Clint Eastwood
Rating: R
Length: 132 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Ryan Phillippe
Jesse Bradford
Adam Beach
John Benjamin Hickey
John Slattery

Plot:Extras:
Closed Captioned


Companion piece to Letters From Iwo Jima from Clint Eastwood.

This movie was ok, but had some warts and had it been released independently it would have received better reviews from the critics, but as it was it and LFIJ released at the same time and so were inevitably compared to one another. Letters From Iwo Jima was far superior to Flags Of Our Fathers on all levels.

There was no continuity to Flags... jumping all over the place from war time, to current day to post war. I was hoping to see and quite frankly was expecting to see some sustained battle sequences and while they were good they were too short lived. LFIJ focused on the epic battle for Suribachi Mountain and all it's horrors as seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers and it was masterful where FOOF focused on the famous picture of the flag raising and the deceit surrounding it as the image was used to play on the emotions of the American citizens to cough up billions of dollars in War Bonds. All I can say is that if it was Eastwood's attempt with these two films to glorify the honor and bravery of the Japanese and bash the integrity of the American military heads and U.S. government he succeeded. 

Another disappointment with this movie was the performance of Adam Beach, whom I've liked in every other role I've seen him in but in this one I thought he was terrible. His turn as the drunken Native American soldier Ira Hayes was woefully overplayed and rather embarrassing. I think the guilt and shame his character felt could have been conveyed without looking so pathetic.

One of the things I did like was spotting the common footage between the two films. You could almost follow the time line of the battle from both sides.

Again, the movie was ok and enlightened some on the background of an iconic photograph of WWII, but I think this is one of Clint's poorest efforts to date and that surprises me, especially in contrast to Letters From Iwo Jima which was outstanding. The critics definitely got it right in regards to these two films.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on September 19th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

The Best of BraveStarr (1987/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 195 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
All legends have a beginning...Having escaped the destruction of his home world by the villain Stampede, Marshall Bravestarr is now one of the toughest lawmen in the universe. On the planet of New Texas, Bravestarr faces his destiny, aided by his famous sidekick Thirty-Thirty, the beautiful Judge J.B., the Shaman, and the Prairie People, in a battle to protect the world and its people from the evil Tex Hex and his gang!

This two-disc deluxe DVD set includes the feature film Bravestarr: The Legend - the theatrical release that led to the popular syndicated action series - and the top five stories from Bravestarr: The Series, as voted by fans of this action-filled 65-episode program! For the first time ever on DVD, you can experience the strenght of a bear, the speed of a puma, and the power of Bravestarrr!

BraveStarr
1.00 BraveStarr: The Legend (1988-03-18)
Writer: Bob Forward (Writer), Steve Hayes (Writer)
Director: Tom Tataranowicz
Cast: Charlie Adler ( (voice)), Susan Blu ( (voice)), Pat Fraley ( (voice)), Ed Gilbert ( (voice)), Alan Oppenheimer ( (voice))

I don't actually have the first episode of this series. I only own the "Best of" boxset, which includes the BraveStarr movie, which was released after the series. But it is a prequel and tells how the characters all came together. So I am counting it as a pilot.
I have watched BraveStarr as a kid. I liked it, but never as much as I did like He-Man. This movie just doesn't bring up the nostalgia as when I watch an episode of He-Man.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 30th, 2011)