DVD Collectors Online

The Eagle, a review by VirtualScot

There few periods of history that really intrigue me in film, WWI and the Roman Empire are two them. Mainly because story's don't relove around these two periods of history very often, so it's very rare to see them be realised on film. This is what initially attracted to go see The Eagle in cinema, and boy was i impressed with how well realised it was.

Staring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell. Marcus (Tatum) is posted to Britain in the hope of regaining his family's honour, after the ninth legion disappeared in North Britain twenty years under the command of his father. Losing the Eagle standard, Rome's most sacred symbol of honour and five thousand men. Shamed by the defeat Hadrian's wall is build, marking the line of the end of the known world.

After saving the life of a young Briton slave called Esca (Bell), who in thanks swears a bond to Marcus. Marcus sets off with Esca beyond the wall to find the Eagle standard and restore his family's honour.

From the opening where Marcus arrives at his first post to the ending. Every detail of Roman Britain is brilliantly brought to life, and all this on a budget twenty five million dollars.

There's no gas can powered chariots in this film (wink wink).

The only issue i had with the historical aspect, was the highlands not being as leafy as it was back then. The highlands only lost it's forests in the 18th century thanks to the Royal Navy. But that's forgiveable and only another couple of issues pop up here and there.

The action scenes do suffer from the fast is apparently more realistic idea. And the plot does get a little slow at certain point. Overall though Tatum and Bell both put in strong performances. Bell coming off better as it's safe to say he is the better actor (no offence to Mr Tatum).

Mixing full on violence with a more profound story of honour and courage. A masterpiece it is not but a solid film none the less, and the sleeper hit of this year i think.







(From The Eagle on March 30th, 2011)

Casino royale, a review by Rich

25/11

Casino royale



CASINO ROYALE introduces JAMES BOND before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status.Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist, MOLLAKA (Sebastien Foucan). Not everything goes to plan and Bond decides to investigate, independently of MI6, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters DIMITRIOS (Simon Abkarian) and his girlfriend, SOLANGE (Caterina Murino). He learns that Dimitrios is involved with LE CHIFFRE (Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world's terrorist organizations.Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organization.'M' (Judi Dench) places Bond under the watchful eye of the beguiling VESPER LYND (Eva Green). At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together and even torture at the hands of Le Chiffre.In Montenegro, Bond allies himself with MATHIS (Giancarlo Giannini), MI6's local field agent, and FELIX LEITER (Jeffrey Wright), who is representing the interests of the CIA. The marathon game proceeds with dirty tricks and violence, raising the stakes beyond blood money and reaching a terrifying climax.

Brushed off Casino Royale for a 3rd viewing (1st in cinema, 2nd on dvd) in preparation of seeing Quantum of Solace, this time watching on BluRay. I am bias being a true Bond fan, and the high definition viewing with pure sound was awesome. I am in favour of the new 007, from the books I always thought he was a cold character and more ruthless than typically portrayed, and this is perhaps less 'comic-book' than previous adventures. Good to see the scene with the cut-out wicker chair is in this version of the film mirroring the book. The only minor criticisms I have with the new format were too few gadgets, and lack of a memorable theme song.
A good start to a new Bond, looking forward now to a trip to the cinema in December to see the latest offering
 


(From November Alphabet Marathon - Discussion/Review Thread on November 26th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 350 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
1.01 Asahina Mikuru no Bouken Episode 00 (2006-04-02)
Writer: Nagaru Tanigawa (Original Material By), Yutaka Yamamoto (Screenwriter)
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Cast: Original Japanese Cast), Tomokazu Sugita (Kyon (voice)), Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya (voice)), Minori Chihara (Yuki Nagato (voice)), Yuko Goto (Mikuru Asahina (voice)), Daisuke Ono (Itsuki Koizumi (voice)), Yuki Matsuoka (Tsuruya-san (voice)), Minoru Shiraishi (Taniguchi (voice)), Sayaka Aoki (Kyon's Little Sister (voice)), Kenichi Ogata (Shamisen (voice)), Eiji Yanagisawa (Kiyozumi Morimura (voice)), Kenichi Mochizuki (Yusuke Suzuki (voice)), Kimiko Saito (Old Lady A (voice)), Aiko Hibi (Old Lady B (voice)), English Voice Cast), Crispin Freeman (Kyon (voice)), Wendee Lee (Haruhi Suzumiya (voice)), Michelle Ruff (Yuki Nagato (voice)), Stephanie Sheh (Mikuru Asahina (voice)), Johnny Yong Bosch (Itsuki Koizumi (voice)), Kari Wahlgren (Tsuruya-san (voice)), Sam Riegel (Taniguchi (voice)), Steve Kramer (Shamisen (voice)), Michael McConnohie (Kiyozumi Morimura (voice)), Dave Wittenberg (Yusuke Suzuki (voice)), Merrilyn Crouch (Old Lady A (voice))

The episode order on the DVD set is different than the broadcast order. Mostly it is chronological here (except for this episode), whereas the broadcast order jumped around on purpose.
This first episode is not a regular episode. Everything happening here is a film the characters shot later on in the series. It's a nonsensical story.

Rating:


The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
1.02 Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu I (2006-04-09)
Writer: Nagaru Tanigawa (Original Material By), Tatsuya Ishihara (Screenwriter)
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Cast: Original Japanese Cast), Tomokazu Sugita (Kyon (voice)), Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya (voice)), Minori Chihara (Yuki Nagato (voice)), Yuko Goto (Mikuru Asahina (voice)), Minoru Shiraishi (Taniguchi (voice)), Megumi Matsumoto (Kunikida (voice)), Natsuko Kuwatani (Ryoko Asakura (voice)), Eiji Yanagisawa (Okabe Sensei (voice)), English Voice Cast), Crispin Freeman (Kyon (voice)), Wendee Lee (Haruhi Suzumiya (voice)), Michelle Ruff (Yuki Nagato (voice)), Stephanie Sheh (Mikuru Asahina (voice)), Sam Riegel (Taniguchi (voice)), Brianne Siddall (Kunikida (voice)), Bridget Hoffman (Ryoko Asakura (voice)), Michael McConnohie (Okabe Sensei (voice)), Patricia Ja Lee (Schoolgirl (voice)), Merrilyn Crouch (Schoolgirl (voice))

The first regular episode (and the first broadcast) which introduces most of the characters. It's a good episode and a fitting introduction to the series.

Rating:


(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 9th, 2012)