DVD Collectors Online

Van Helsing: The London Assignment, a review by addicted2dvd

Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004/United States) Director: Sharon Bridgeman Writing: Judith Reeves-Stevens (Writer), Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Writer) Length: 33 min. Rating: NR Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

---

Stars:
Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing
Robbie Coltrane as Mr. Hyde
David Wenham as Carl
Grey DesLisle as First Victim
Dwight Schultz as Dr. Jekyll
John DiMaggio as Coachman

Plot:
On the winding and fog-enshrouded streets of London, the sinister being known only as Mr. Hyde terrorizes the city in a haunting spree of mayhem and murder. With the populace in a panic, the legendary monster hunter, Van Helsing, arrives in London on a mission to track down and capture the elusive Mr. Hyde.

Starring Hugh Jackman as the voice of Van Helsing, this original animated film will thrill you with cutting-edge visuals and non-stop action. Experience a 'Van Helsing' adventure that takes place before the events of the blockbuster film!

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Interviews
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Closed Captioned

I don't want to say this is a bad short film... but I was definitely expecting more from it. Especially what with how much I enjoyed the movie Van Helsing. The storyline just didn't grab me as much as it should have. If I saw this short before the movie I wouldn't have been in as big of a hurry to watch the movie when it was released. I can see myself watching this again... but not as often as some of the other films in my collection.




(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched Horror on January 13th, 2012)

Bandslam , a review by Tom

Bandslam (2009/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia E1 Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Todd Graff Writing: Josh A. Cagan (Screenwriter), Todd Graff (Screenwriter), Josh A. Cagan (Story By) Length: 107 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English

---

Stars:
Aly Michalka as Charlotte
Vanessa Hudgens as Sa5m
Gaelan Connell as Will
Scott Porter as Ben Wheatly
Ryan Donowho as Basher

Plot:
This year's family musical comedy stars singing phenomenon VANESSA HUDGENS; everyone's favourite friend LISA KUDROW; Disney teen pop favourite ALYSON MICHALKA; new Hollywood hotshot SCOTT PORTER (Speed Racer); The OC's RYAN DONOWHO; and introducing GAELAN CONNELL.

When gifted singer-songwriter Charlotte Banks (Michalka) asks new kid in town Will Burton (Connell) to manage her fledgling rock band, she appears to have just one goal in mind: go head-to-head against her egotistical ex-boyfriend, Ben (Porter) at the biggest event of the year, a battle of the bands.

Against all odds, the band develops a sound that has a shot at success. Meanwhile, romance brews between Will and a musically gifted Sa5m - Sam with a silent 5 (Hudgens) and must decide where his allegiance lies.

When disaster strikes, it's time for the band to make a choice: do they admit defeat or face the music and stand up for what they believe in?

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Music Videos
• Scene Access

This popped up on my Amazon recommendations and it looked some nice light-hearted fun. I expected a movie which was mainly about a rock competition, but actually, this only played a small role. This movie is a great character-driven high school story.
This movie's success suffered from the marketing, which made it look like a High School Musical rip-off. But actually it is something completely different.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 24th, 2011)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Star Trek: Voyager: Season One (1995/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) Length: 802 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish

---

Star Trek: Voyager
1.01 Caretaker
Writer: Michael Piller (Screenwriter), Jeri Taylor (Screenwriter), Rick Berman (Original Material By), Michael Piller (Original Material By), Jeri Taylor (Original Material By)
Director: Winrich Kolbe
Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B'Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), Basil Langton (The Caretaker), Gavan O'Herlihy (Maje Jabin), Angela Paton (Aunt Adah), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alicia Coppola (Lieutenant Stadi), Bruce French (Ocampa Doctor), Jennifer Parsons (Ocampa Nurse), David Selburg (Toscar), Jeff McCarthy (Human Doctor), Stan Ivar (Mark), Scott MacDonald (Rollins), Josh Clark (Carey), Richard Poe (Gul Evek), Keely Sims (Farmer's Daughter), Eric David Johnson (Daggin), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice (voice))

The first two seasons of Voyagers suffered a lot by poor writing and bad villains. But it picked up for me in season 3 and 4. But this may be because I became a fan of the Paris/Torres relationship (as you may know when you followed my Random Star Trek Episode Review thread). I was only mildly interested in the series during the fifth and sixth season though. My interest picked up again in season seven. A friend at the university was a Voyager fan and we started to watch the new episodes together.
The pilot is okay. The quality is about the same as for other early episodes. Too bad the beautiful original pilot had to die. I would have been interested to see her as a regular. Even though she would have replaced Tom Paris. But I wouldn't have minded if she instead of Paris started a relationship with B'Elanna

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 25th, 2012)