DVD Collectors Online

Watchmen, a review by Tom

Title: Watchmen: Director's Cut
Year: 2009
Director: Zack Snyder
Rating: R
Length: 186 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: DTS HD Master Audio, French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Malin Akerman
Billy Crudup
Matthew Goode
Jackie Earle Haley
Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Plot:Awards:

Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Comic Book Movie
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Ensemble
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best F/X
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Fantasy Movie
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Superhero	Billy Crudup
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Superhero	Jackie Earle
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Superhero	Malin Akerman
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Carla Gugino
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Fight-to-the-Death Scene of the Year	"Ozymandias vs. The Comedian":
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Most Memorable Mutilation	"Arms Cut Off by Rotary Saw":
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Scream Song of the Year	"Desolation Row": My Chemical Romance
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	The "Holy Sh%t!" Scene of the Year	"The Destruction of Manhattan":
Teen Choice Awards	2009	Nominated	Choice Movie Actress - Action/Adventure	Malin Akerman

Extras:
BD-Live
Featurettes
Maximum Movie Mode
Music Videos
Scene Access

Even though I enjoy this movie, I feel it is much too long. The graphic novel on which this movie is based on, was always said to be unfilmable. They have proven this incorrect. As a matter of fact this is almost a panel-by-panel reenactment (at least it feels like it). And this is in my opinion just playing it too safe. A good film adaption, in my opinion, takes a source material and takes parts which are essential and provide a good and stream-lined story. Here they almost did not take any liberties, which is just too lazy for a film adaption. This approach would have better fit in a mini series.
A good comic book adaption, where they still have the general storyline and ideas in the movie, but have enough changes to better fit the constraints of a movie, are in my opinion the two Death Note movies.
But I have to give it to the movie, that the one big thing they have changed was for the better. And that is the ending. I like the movie version better. Coincidentally I thought the same thing about the Death Note ending.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 10th, 2009)

Live Free or Die Hard, a review by Dragonfire

---

Live Free or Die Hard The action explodes as never before in this 2-Disc Collector's Edition of Live Free or Die Hard! Start with the unrated version, packed with more thrills, more attitude...more John McClane! Then add a spectacular 10-part documentary that takes you where no Die Hard fan has gone before, plus an uncensored interview with Bruce Willis on the studio backlot and more. With over two and a half hours of special features, this is the ultimate Die Hard experience. Yippee ki yay!

---

Even though a lot of time had passed since the release of the third movie and some people probably figured there was no point in another Die Hard movie, I really enjoyed this one and think it fits in well with the previous movies.

John is a bit older, but he is still a bad ass.  He is once again in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he still steps up and does what has to be done.  That's the kind of guy he is.  If that aspect of the movie had been changed, the movie wouldn't have worked as well I don't think.  What made the first two movies so great - while I still like the third movie, I don't think it is as good as the first two - was that John was just a normal guy thrown into the middle of a huge, dangerous mess.  He gets hurt and makes some mistakes along the way, but he gets done what needs to be done.  He's not some unstoppable guy who dodges bullets and is never hurt in any way.  Even though he does some crazy, wild things, it seems more believable because of how the character is set up.

I like the plot and the fact that the bad guy is using technology.  Thomas is a decent bad guy and I like him overall, but he's no Hans Grubber. 

I like the character of Matt and how he interacts with John.  I mostly like Lucy as well, though she is slighting annoying a few times.  John is a lot like he was in the first movie, but he's changed from how he was in the third movie.  In that movie, things were really bad for him.  I'm glad that the movie has the character more stable even though there are issues with his relationship with his daughter.

It does seem wrong that the studio pushed for and got the PG-13 rating.  A Die Hard movie having that rating is just wrong...and then they go and cut off John's signature line.  At least there is an unrated version on the DVD - which is what I always watch.  It's not that I particularly like hearing lots of swearing, but John is a character that uses colorful language...that was clearly established in the first movies, and changing it now is wrong.  I think most of the differences are in adding in more swearing.  I'm not sure if the unrated version is more violent or not.

People who liked the previous Die Hard movies should give this one a chance. 



I did get a review posted at Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater.

Live Free or Die Hard

(From Marie's Random Movie Viewing on August 13th, 2011)

Doctor Who Marathon, a review by Tom

Doctor Who
Series 1.03 The Unquiet Dead
Writer: Mark Gatiss (Writer)
Director: Euros Lyn
Cast: Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Alan David (Gabriel Sneed), Huw Rhys (Redpath), Jennifer Hill (Mrs Peace), Eve Myles (Gwyneth), Simon Callow (Charles Dickens), Wayne Cater (Stage Manager), Meic Povey (Driver), Zoe Thorne (The Gelth)

Originally I only wanted to watch one Doctor Who episode today. But then I saw that Eve Myles guest starred in this episode. I now know her from the main cast of Torchwood. Her character here is very different. If I hadn't read the name, I am not sure if I would have recognized her. Even though knowing it is her, it is rather obvious. She did a good job.

This episode reintroduces the concept, that when the doctor travels to the earth's path, he usually encounters an alien life form, from which he has to save humankind. It is a good episode, even though I am not much a fan of "ghost" stories.




(From Doctor Who Marathon on January 6th, 2014)