DVD Collectors Online

Begin Again, a review by Antares

Begin Again (2013) 76/100 - It's an entertaining, feel good kind of film that's a bit too cute at times. I liked the songs and there are moments in the film that are absolutely brilliant, like the scene in the beginning where Ruffalo's character arranges the song Knightley is singing on stage, in his head with imaginary accompaniment. And also the scene where she writes a song and sings it on her ex-boyfriend's voice mail. If there were more scenes like these, I would have rated this one much higher. But when you get down to it, the whole We'll record the songs all over New York City is incredibly far fetched. I laughed when they were recording in the subway as the train blew by them, that must have really sounded great on the album. If this film did one thing for me, it has piqued my curiosity in an earlier film from this director, called Once. Which it seems, almost everyone who has watched the film I'm reviewing, compares it to, much more favorably. I'd probably watch this one again if I stumbled upon it on HBO, but I wouldn't seek it out.

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 February 20th, 2015)

Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut, a review by Jon

Payback was released in 1999 and it was based on a book called The Hunter by Richard Stark. The same source material for John Boorman's Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. I must give that earlier film another go; I saw it years ago and liked the story, but not the style, or even the ending.

When Payback came out I really liked it. It was the same story, but low key and to the point. And the point was usually being used to batter someone! Grimy, violent little film that it is!

I didn't know that the film I saw in 1999 wasn't what was originally intended and that apparently it didn't test well, so Brian Helgeland the director was kicked off because he refused to change it, a new section filmed with a new ending and the whole thing edited different. Now Brian has gone back to his original footage and pieced it back to how it originally was. As I said, I did like that theatrical version, so I was reluctant to get Straight Up. Especially when you think he directed The Sin Eater, so maybe he doesn't know what the heck he is doing and perhaps the theatrical Payback was a rescue job.

I just watched Straight Up and I like it more than the standard Payback. Leaner and meaner, it harks back to the 1970s (Helgeland's original intention apparently) and removes a lot of stuff that was added just to spell things out to the audience. It's lost some humour, but the stark brutality makes more sense. Somehow the theatrical version seems a bit silly to me now. You may think different, but both versions are worth seeing.

So anyway, if you like gritty 1970s style crime films, I recommend this. If you've seen the original Payback, I really recommend it, if only for novelty value. But if you don't fit either of those slots, I still implore you to get this modestly priced DVD because the extra features give a fantastic glimpse into the bonkers world of Hollywood. Payback demonstrates all that is right and wrong and right again with the filmmaking business, and the 'Making of' featurette is one of the best I've seen.

Normally in situations like these you have to wait until someones dead (Orson Welles, Touch of Evil) or it becomes tit for tat grudge crap (The Exorcist: Dominion) before you see definitive (or hacked!) versions. Here though, the 'making of' is made up of interviews by people with only positive things to say about the whole affair, including Mel Gibson. They still stick strongly to their original intentions, but I think the fact Straight Up exists at all is miraculous. They are all gracious about each others intentions, so it's a pleasant half hour.

Parts of the interviews, especially the composer of the new score, are often quite moving even. And Brian Helgeland has the last line and tearfully puts everything in perspective, especially if you were starting to think of Gibson as the villainous producer... 

There's a good interview with Richard Stark too.

(From Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut on December 13th, 2007)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Beastmaster
In an age when nature and magic ruled the world, an extraordinary legend was born... The BeastMaster!

At long last, the entire first season of the spectacular BeastMaster series comes to home video in an epic 22 episode season 1 DVD collection. Based on the works of legendary science fiction author Andre Norton, this is the saga of Dar, a legendary warrior born of the beasts and gifted with the ability to communicate with animals! Joined by the scholar Tao and a legion of animal warriors, Dar must journey through a world before time, on an epic odyssey to bring peace and justice to a land faced with incredible evil.

The Legend Continues
Dar begins his quest to rescue his love, Kyra, after the Terron warriors abduct her.

My Thoughts:
I originally seen this series when I caught a few odd episodes on syndicated TV. Unfortunately because it was a syndicated series you never really knew from one week to the next if it will be on the following week.  I was thrilled when I found the DVD releases. I finally was able to see the entire series and in order. While it is an entertaining series I wouldn't call it a favorite. It never gained the popularity of Hercules or Xena... but was worth watching. There is one familiar face in this series... a young Emilie de Raven (Roswell, Lost) had a recurring role in the first 2 seasons (I believe) of this show.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on November 2nd, 2009)