DVD Collectors Online

Fantastic 4, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Fantastic 4
Year: 2005
Director: Tim Story
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: DTS 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards
Jessica Alba as Sue Storm
Chris Evans as Johnny Storm
Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom

Star(s) of TV Series:

Star:	Movie Character:	TV Series:	Season(s):	Series Character:
Jessica Alba	Sue Storm	Dark Angel	All	Max Guevera
Julian McMahon	Victor Von Doom	Charmed	3-5	Cole Turner

Smaller Parts/Cameos:

Star:	Movie Character:	TV Series:	Season(s):	Series Character:
Gina Holden	LV Receptionist	Blood Ties	All	Coreen Fennel
Peter Bryant	Lame Joke Business Man	Dark Angel	1	Bling

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I have been a fan of the Fantastic Four since watching the cartoon series from back in the '60s or '70s when I was a kid. Forgive me for using the obvious word here... but going by my memory of the show... I think they did a Fantastic job bringing the characters to life. I liked everyone in this movie. And that is saying something since this is the first (and so far only) thing I have seen that I actually like Julian McMahon in. But I thought he did a great job here. I think Chris Evans got The Human Torch dead on. Jessica Alba was awesome as Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman). I remember when I first heard they were doing this movie I was concerned how The Thing would look in the movie... but that impressed me as well. I think the origin story is both interesting and fun. And I loved the scene on the bridge where the team first came to be. This is one I would definitely recommend. I enjoyed every minute of it.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: TV Stars in the Movies on March 5th, 2010)

Akira, a review by Jon

Akira
5 out of 5



In 1988, the landmark Anime film AKIRA, by director Katsuhiro Otomo, defined the cutting edge of Anime around the world. By today's standards, AKIRA remains a landmark achievement in cell animation and retains the explosive impact of its highly detailed animation and its intensely violent saga of power and corruption. Pioneer Entertainment proudly presents this classic film, completely restored and digitally re-mastered. Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda's motorcycle gang encounters a military operation to retrieve an escaped experimental subject. The military captures Tetsuo and conducts experiments on him that unleash his latent psychic ability, but when these new powers rage out of control, Tetsuo lashes out at the world that has oppressed him!

Akira is the film that introduced me, along with thousands of other naive Westerners, to Anime. It's been the favoured poster boy of Manga ever since and still stands today as one of the finest examples of animation, Japanese or otherwise. The opening scene of warring motorcycle gangs colliding with a revolutionary plot and wrinkly psychic kids is still a top favourite movie moment for me. I remember when I first saw it; after being brought up on nice, safe Disney, I think it blew my mind and I've never quite recovered! Thank goodness.  

That scene sets the balance for the rest of the film which is a dizzying clash of plots. You have the cool, irreverent, often violent action provided by Kaneda's bike gang as they look for their friend Tetsuo, who has been taken by the military after an accident. The military in turn are dealing with politicians and revolutionaries alike in a powerful sub-plot, while a girl from the revolution is tolerating Kaneda, as they have a mutual interest in finding Tetsuo. He is the heart of the story, struggling to come to terms with strange powers that are quickly getting out of hand. The wrinkly kids are also very powerful and are trying to keep him in check for his own sake, especially as he is learning about Akira. Who or what Akira was is left ambiguous throughout, but whatever is left of "him" is buried deep under the city and Tetsuo is determined to get at it. The last act of the film is all the various factions converging on one point for an epic, breathtaking finale.

The various plots are wound together with an assured attention to detail, never at the cost of pace and all the elements balance each other perfectly. For instance, the kids attacking Tetsuo disguised as huge toys that bleed milk would be unbearably disturbing but for the next scene of cathartic, wanton destruction or a wisecrack from Kaneda. The sci-fi plot is deep and philosophical, concerning human evolution. If there is a complaint, it's possible only the surface of potential was scratched. Certainly the original manga, also by director Katsuhiro Otomo, is much larger. This is really picky though and newbies won't notice because they will be too busy trying not to fall off the edge of their seat!

The quality of animation is astonishingly detailed, fluid and cinematic (some Anime has a tendency to be stilted), and the sound design and bonkers score match it throughout. This DVD release is getting on for 10 years old, but it's a fantastic transfer. Also the 5.1 is only available in English dubbed, but it's unusually good. I did have the dubbed VHS first, then VideoCD and remember the latter subtitled version being a big improvement, but this dubbing is excellent.

It is a very modern and dynamic piece of film-making and a benchmark for the sci-fi genre, a benchmark Hollywood has consistently failed to match. It treats the viewer with intelligence and doesn't compromise the story at all. If you enjoy the genre, but are wary of watching "kids cartoons", I urge you to try this. You owe it to yourself. There's healthy support on these forums for Anime, so why not dive in and find out why.



(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 7th, 2010)

Charmed Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. Hulkus Pocus
When Billie is infected by a government-created virus that causes magical beings to "hulk out," Piper and Leo race against time to find an antidote to save her life.

My Thoughts:
This is another episode that I found a lot of fun. This time we have all 4 of the girls turning into something. This time it is a virus running rampant in the magical community that makes magical creatures (including The Charmed Ones) to become hulk like creatures shortly after the change the infected creatures die. 

10. Vaya Con Leos
Piper turns to The Elders and The Avatars to save Leo from The Angel of Death, while Phoebe and Billie hunt for Billie's sister and meet Burke, a demonic bounty hunter who freezes his victims into trophies.

My Thoughts:
Another really good episode. And time to say goodbye to Leo for several episodes.  For some reason Brian Krause (Leo) was not signed for the entire season like he was for the previous seasons. So this season we only got him for half the episodes. They handled it pretty well they made it be emotional... but kept the possibility of him returning.

11. Mr. & Mrs. Witch
When Billie discovers the power of projection, she inadvertently transforms her parents into cold-blooded assassins who are then hired to kill the CEO of a powerful company.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but not great. Really was just a standard episode. Though it does go a little further into the Billie/Chrissy storyline.

12. Payback's a Witch
Paige tries to help Henry's parolee, Nick, get a loan at a bank, but when the loan is denied, Nick crashes his car into the bank and holds everyone hostage.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but not great. Billie is still on a warpath trying to find her sister. And Paige discovers her powers as a whitelighter is increasing when she heals Henry.

(From Charmed Marathon on July 15th, 2008)