DVD Collectors Online

Lethal Weapon, a review by Tom

Title: Lethal Weapon
Year: 1987
Director: Richard Donner
Rating: NR
Length: 117 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital Surround, English: DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Mel Gibson
Danny Glover
Gary Busey
Mitchell Ryan
Tom Atkins

Plot:
With over seven minutes of previously unavailable scenes, the director's cut of Lethal Weapon is a long-overdue present for fans. Riggs' solitary homelife and the tragic loss spurring him to a reckless disregard for his own safety now come into greater focus. We see that recklessness in new scenes underlining the differences between the two cops. Murtaugh, just 50, needs reassurance about his skills at a firing range. Riggs, not caring if he sees another birthday, coolly walks into a schoolyard sniper's field of fire. All the humor and adrenaline that made this original an entertainment milestone are here, too. No scenes have been removed. But new action and new insight are now included. Include yourself in the excitement.

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

Lethal Weapon is one of the best (if not the best) buddy cop movies. Good mix of humor and interesting characters, which do not seem so over-the-top as in a lot of other movies of this kind. Of course you could say this about Gibson's character, but I still feel it works great here as it comes from his emotional state.
The only thing which I think is out of place here is the final fight between Riggs and the bad guy. They already had him apprehended, but Riggs simply wanted to have another hand-to-hand fight with him.

Rating:

(From Lethal Weapon Marathon on June 8th, 2009)

Miracle on 34th Street, a review by addicted2dvd

Miracle on 34th Street (1994) In this modern update of the beloved 1947 film classic, six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. But after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in. Starring Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott and Mara Wilson as Susan, this uplifting and joyous film will make believers out of the entire family.

My Thoughts:
I recorded this one off of cable. While enjoyable... this remake just does not compare to the classic. It is missing a lot of the charm that made the original version so good. I also didn't care for the change to the ending of the court case in this one. I won't be in too much of a hurry to adding this one to my DVD Collection.



(From Addicted2DVD's 25 Days of Christmas Marathon: 2010 on December 22nd, 2010)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Bart Allen is back in town. But it isn't a social visit he paying Smallville and Clark. He is working for Oliver/Green Arrow and they are investigating Lex's 33.1 project. And Bart isn't the only one. In the end they have to fight side by side: Oliver "Green Arrow", Bart "Impulse", A.C. "Aquaman", Victor "Cyborg" and Clark "Boy Scout".

My Opinion: I really liked to see them again and together. It was sad though to hear that it didn't work out with Victor and his girlfriend (remember, what I said about them?) and that Oliver is leaving Smallville. He was a great character and I'd like to see him again.

Synopsis: Clark is attacked by something and awakes in a mental institution. There they want to make him believe that he is perfectly normal - just a bit schizophrenic. He's just Clark Kent, not Kal-El and he's definitively not from Krypton. Only Chloe believes in him - until she gets killed.

My Opinion: The "everything was an illusion" episode that's quite common among sci-fi and fantasy series. I liked it because it forced Clark to stop kidding himself and it showed once again that he would nearly everything give up for Lana - but only nearly everything.

Synopsis: A lipstick composed of red Kryptonite and some herbal oils makes Lois fall in love with Clark. Chloe finds that terribly funny until Lois actually kisses Clark and thus "infects" him with red K. Lex and Lana couldn't have chosen a worse day to rehearse the wedding dinner.

My Opinion: This episode was funny and sad at the same time. They way Lois behaved was hilarious and again I liked the hints that they may become an item. The part of Clark being unleashed was of course sad. In opposition to previous "red K trips" this was not funny. It showed what Clark had to digest over the last months and still there's nothing he can do about it.
BTW: No way in hell would Lex be able to deform a chisel like that. After all, it's a tool that is built to withstand brute force.

Synopsis: Lana has secured the chisel and is wondering about it when she notices that someone is watching her. That person has seen her with the chisel and that means she can't confide in Lex. First she hides out at Chloe's, later at the Kents's farm. But her stalker is following her and threatens to kill her.

My Opinion: Could he or couldn't he catch the guy, too? Did he let him die or was he simply too late to save them both? There are people on the internet that claim that he let the guy die - but we haven't seen what really has happened. The writers decided to not to show it to us. Thus, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
And even if. This Clark Kent isn't the regular Superman guy. Superman is a boy scout, he's perfect. This Clark is far from perfect and he himself admits that freely. Additionally, perfect is boring.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 20th, 2008)