DVD Collectors Online

Back to the Future, a review by RossRoy

WHAT THEY SAY

Experience one of the most popular movie series of all time like never before with the Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy! Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and a time traveling DeLorean for the adventure of a lifetime as they travel to the past, present and future, setting off a time-shattering chain reaction that disrupts the space time continuum! From filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, these timeless films feature all-new 25th Anniversary restorations for perfect picture and the purest digital sound available, plus hours of exciting bonus features.

MY THOUGHTS

Does this movie really need presentation?  And yeah, I watched it on Blu-ray. The movie itself? Just as good as ever. I love it. Loved it the first time i saw it (though I have a slight preference for Part II, mostly because of how it integrates itself with this one), and I still love it, 25 years later. Not much more to say about the film itself. Blu-ray? Ha! ... Ok, it looked AWESOME. Best quality I've ever seen this movie in. Now I know what Jon means about Blu-ray probably being more of a boon for older movies than for recent ones. It's incredible how much background detail come back to life here on Blu-ray! I even had to take out my DVD version to compare and.. yeah, Blu-ray brings out details that DVD misses. One particular moment that jumped at me is when the time machine reappears at the beginning of the movie after Einstein's 1-minutes time leap. The camera is behind the DeLorean with Marty and Doc behind it, maybe 25-30 feet behind, and in the the background are trees, scrubs and the mall further back. You can easily make it all out. It looks clean and sharp. You can see difference in the greens for the leaves and stuff, the street lights (well, technically parking lights) are sharp and clean on screen, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bigger TV that I could make out the sign of the store that there. On the DVD, it all looks somewhat muddled in comparison. (Can't wait to see Part III - I don't know why, but I have a feeling the "western" look will lend itself to Blu-ray quite well!) The DTS-HD audio track sounds awesome! I think it's the first time I can say that I liked the sound of DTS over DD. I always felt DTS (on DVD) to be artificially boosted to make it appear to sound better than DD. Here it's all really well mixed and the level of sound details is amazing. Really, I never thought it could be that big of a step up. And keep in mind, I'm still listening with t he same 5.1 setup from DVD. Sure, my 5.1 decoder and speakers are THX certified and all, but DTS-HD wasn't even available when I bought them! That the codec is backward compatible AND manages to still sound better on older equipment? More power to them! I sounded great! Now, I know, this all sounds overly enthusiastic and I can see a few of you jumping around saying "yeah! another convert"... but don't jump too fast. Sure the picture is, I have to admit, leaps and bounds above DVD. Sure, it sounds much better. But did it really improve my enjoyment of the movie? Hard to say, but I don't think I would enjoy the movie less on DVD than I do on Blu. So I keep my previous stance. For the same price? Blu all the way. Is Blu worth a 10$ premium (which seems to be the average here in Canada)... No. Am I glad I got Black to the Future with "PERFECT PICTURE + PERFECT SOUND"? You betcha! But I got it at a ridiculous price (especially if you factor in the fact that it was paid by a gift certificate I received at Xmas  )

RATING

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on December 31st, 2010)

Burnt Offerings, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Burnt Offerings
Movie Count: 60
TV Ep Count: 29
Other  Count: 2
Time Started: 4:45am
Plot:My Thoughts:
This is another one I never seen until today. But I have heard some good things about it. And I have found myself becoming a fan of Karen Black so was fun to see her in another movie. Even though I found this movie to start a little slow... I found myself quickly getting into it. It has a good... but subtle atmosphere that works very well for this movie. This is definitely one I am glad I added to my collection.



(From My Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2008 on October 18th, 2008)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

15. Hell's Bells
On the day of his wedding, Xander gets cold feet after he's shown a disturbing glimpse into the future.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. This is another one that has a lot of comedy mixed in with the serious stuff.

16. Normal Again
A demon's venom causes Buffy to hallucinate, convincing the Slayer that she's a normal girl in a mental ward, that her parents are alive, Dawn never existed, and her Slayer life is a delusion.

My Thoughts:
This one I liked a lot... has always been one of my favorites. Even if this story line is used in every Sci-Fi/Supernatural Thriller series out there. Just off the top of my head I seen it in both Charmed and Smallville. But I think this episode was done well... I enjoyed every minute of it.

17. Entropy
Anya, secretly a demon again, attempts to get vengeance on Xander.

My Thoughts:
Enjoyable... but just a basic good episode... nothing extra special about it really.

18. Seeing Red
Warren acquires a pair of demonic orbs that imbue him with strength and invulnerability, and he faces off with Buffy.

My Thoughts:
Good episode... one that ends with the beginning of the true "Big Bad" of the season.


19. Villains
Tara's sudden death pushes Willow over the edge. After magically saving Buffy from her own wounds, Willow - consumed by anger and dark magic - hunts down Warren and tortures and kills him.

My Thoughts:
I really hated seen Tara out of the show... but I have to admit... I loved Evil Willow... She is very cool when consumed by the magic like this... and looking for revenge.

20. Two to Go
Buffy and Xander must protect Jonathan and Andrew, who are next on Willow's list. The Slayer is no match for Willow, who has drained Rack of all his powers.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode... Willow doing all she can to get to the final 2 members of the Trio geeks.

21. Grave
Giles faces off with Willow, but she drains him of his powers. This much power causes her to feel all the suffering in the world, so she decides to end it... the world, that is.

My Thoughts:
A great way to end the season... I loved how they finally ended  this one... with Willow being stopped without harming her... and with who stopped her. Definitely something not expected by the first time viewer.



(From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon on November 27th, 2007)