DVD Collectors Online

Unknown, a review by DJ Doena

(german title: Unknown Identity)

Actors:
Liam Neeson
January Jones (Mad Men)
Bruno Ganz (Der Untergang / Downfall)
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)
Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe, Dave)

Plot:
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife (Jones) arrive in Berlin to attend a bio-tech conference. He has to return to the airport because he left a briefcase there and his cab has a crash. When he wakes up in the hospital four days later he's not Dr. Harris anymore. Someone else is Dr. Harris and even his wife doesn't recognize him anymore. What the hell is going on?

My opinion:
I watched this in the theatre (german dubbing) yesterday. I liked that the whole picture took place in my hometown (Berlin) and that it actually was Berlin (and not just a canadian stand-in ). I found it amusing that in the dubbed version the only person speaking with an accent was Gina (Kruger) - a german actress.

When I first saw the character played by Bruno Ganz (I never saw Downfall and didn't recognize him) I immediately said "I bet he was with the Stasi" (former east-german secret service) and I was proven right that very minute. What I also liked about this character was that he pointed out that the whole plot didn't make much sense - until the reveal.

The Germans were a bit "too german" sometimes, like when Dr. Harris had to ID himself just to get into the conference room, even though he was on the guest list. The same thing with the cheap hotel just to keep him from getting a place to sleep. And the nurse: "Gretchen Erfurt". Seriously?

When I saw Langella I also instantly knew that he was the baddie. Except for Superman Returns (Perry White) I can't remember him not playing a baddie (He was Skeletor AND Nixon!!!).

The plot reveal had his ups and downs, for example
The other big plot holes I noticed where these:

I found Jones' character in general rather useless, which is kind of the same way I feel about her Mad Men character Betty Draper.

Everything considered it was an OK movie which I will watch on DVD again, mainly to watch it in english and check how they did the whole english/german mix.

And for us Germans: The doctor is Stockinger from Kommisar Rex.

(From Unknown on April 2nd, 2011)

Twister, a review by addicted2dvd

Twister (1996/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Warner Home Video (United States) Director: Jan de Bont Writing: Michael Crichton (Writer), Anne-Marie Martin (Writer) Length: 113 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, French

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Stars:
Helen Hunt (1963) as Jo
Bill Paxton as Bill
Jami Gertz as Melissa
Cary Elwes as Jonas
Lois Smith as Aunt Meg

Plot:
The house rips apart piece by piece. A bellowing cow spins through the air. Tractors fall like rain. A 15,000-pound gasoline tanker becomes an airborne bomb. A mile-wide, 300 miles-per-hour force of total devastation is coming at you: Twister is hitting home. In this adventure swirling with cliffhanging excitement and awesome special effects, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play scientists pursuing the most destructive weatherfront to sweep through mid-America's tornado Alley in 50 years. By launching electronic sensors into the funnel, the storm chasers hope to obtain enough data to create an improved warning system. But to do so, they must intercept the twisters' deadly path. The chase is on!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Featurettes
• Music Videos

This is another movie I always enjoyed. Probably more then I should considering everything. I have seen it many times since it was released... but haven't watched it in several years now. And it is the first time seeing it on Blu-Ray. Sure this movie has plenty of unbelievable things in it. It is definitely far from perfect storytelling... but there is just something about this one that I like. You just have to turn your brain off going into it. I really enjoyed both Holly Hunter and Bill Paxton in this one. While I didn't care much for her character... I also enjoyed Jami Gertz in this one. I used to watch her back in the '80s on the sitcom Square Pegs.



(From Mini-Marathon: Elemental Disasters on August 23rd, 2017)

The Good Old Days TV Thread, a review by addicted2dvd

My Thoughts:
This is my favorite episode of this series that I have seen so far. Even though I have not even made my way through the second disc of this set yet... this is at least my 3rd time watching this particular episode. It stars a young Drew Barrymore who was only about 12 or 13 years old when she made this episode. In this episode her parents and her neighbors won't believe she is really hearing a woman screaming for help... thinking it is her imagination since she spends all her time reading horror comics (Tales from the Crypt). As I said... I haven't gotten too far into this set yet (only watched 14 out of 65 episodes so far)... but so far... I must say this is my favorite episode!

My Rating:

(From The Good Old Days TV Thread on February 18th, 2010)