DVD Collectors Online

A Fistful of Dollars, a review by dfmorgan

A Fistful of Dollars

Part of

The Spaghetti Western Trilogy

Year: 1964
Director: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, Johnny Wels
OverviewWatched: 12th Jun 2010
My Thoughts: An iconic film which helped to establish Clint Eastwood as a major film star. As to this copy is it a worthy upgrade? In my view yes and no. Yes to the image, although grain is very evident the overall change to picture quality makes a yes. No to the audio though as to my ears the DTS HD-MA 5.1 came over as very tinny with what appeared to be zero use of the 5.1 unlike the DTS 5.1 on the 2005 DVD. Now this may be a limitation of my audio set-up as my amp does not support the modern HD sound sources therefore my PS3 is connected via optical cable to the amp and the PS3 downmixes the DTS HD-MA sound to DTS 5.1 which the amp handles but I haven't had this problem with other DTS HD or Dolby TrueHD sound source films.

I enjoyed watching this again and even looked at some of the bonus features where I learnt that in Japan this film was called Return of Yojimbo because this film is a remake of of the Japanese film Yojimbo.

My Rating: A 4

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on June 14th, 2010)

Howl's Moving Castle, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Original Title: Hauru no Ugoku Shiro
Year: 2004
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: PG
Length: 119 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Chieko Baisho
Takuya Kimura
Akihiro Miwa
Haruko Kato
Ryunosuke Kamiki

Plot:
In Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated masterpiece, journey beyond imagination and enter a "breathtaking fantasy world" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) filled with adventure, humor, and heart.

Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell.

Featuring the voice talents of Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, and Billy Crystal, Miyazaki's artistry comes to life on DVD with inventive characters, unique storytelling, and richly detailed animation.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Interviews
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned



Another wonderfully gorgeous film from Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki has inverted one of his trademarks in this film in that the strong female lead, although technically a young woman, is portrayed by a 90 year old woman after the young girl is cursed by a witch. Sophie leaves home after being cursed and eventually finds herself in Howl's castle with the help of a scarecrow, a pity he is referred to as Turniphead as that has connotations for England football followers. Within Howl's castle Sophie finds out that Howl the magician himself is cursed along with the fire demon and the scarecrow who helped her earlier and that she must solve the riddle for all of them to remove the curses on them.

Another of my favourites and a surefire


(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on August 15th, 2010)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. Anne
It is the end of summer vacation, and Buffy is still missing. Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia are attempting to keep the Sunnydale vampire population in check during Buffy's absence... with only moderate success. They miss having the Slayer around, but more than that they miss their friend. Meanwhile, Buffy has been working as a waitress in L.A., going by her middle name, Anne, and trying to forget her old life. But of course, someone always needs the Slayer's help...

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... Thought it was strong season premiere... I liked that they brought back Lily... a girl that thought she wanted to become a vampire... thinking they were misunderstood... this was until she got to see for herself.


2. Dead Man's Party
Buffy returns home, but finds that picking up the pieces of the life she left behind may not be as easy as she had hoped. Her mother is trying to accept her back with open arms, but she doesn't seem to trust that Buffy won't just run away again. Her friends seem happy to see her, but their odd behavior makes it appear that they silently resent Buffy for taking off. And, of course, before these problems can be laid to rest, the dead of Sunnydale start to rise.

My Thoughts:
This one I liked quite a bit... got a taste of zombie action in this episode... and that is always fun.

3. Faith, Hope and Trick
A new Slayer arrives in town. Faith, who was called after Kendra died, seems like a fun-loving, wacky teenager who fits right in with the gang. Buffy worries that Faith may be taking her place in her friends hearts, and then begins to suspect that the new Slayer may be hiding something.

My Thoughts:
The first episode with Eliza Dushku as Faith... I remember the first 1 or 2 times through this series how I really disliked the character of Faith... but after watching it several times since... I have really grown to enjoy her. Definitely a good episode!

4. Beauty and the Beasts
A student is found savagely mauled in the woods, on the night of a full moon, and the gang worry that Oz may have escaped from his cage. However, Buffy discovers that Angel has somehow escaped Acathla's hell-dimension and returned to earth. Because time moves differently in that dimension, he has endured centuries of torture and is now little more than a wild animal. Now Buffy must find a way to tell the gang that Oz may be innocent and to keep them from killing Angel.

My Thoughts:
Once again... a good episode.. this one touches a little on the Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde story. And if that is not enough... we get some Werewolf action as well.


5. Homecoming
When Cordelia flaunts her sure win for Homecoming Queen it awakens the prom queen within Buffy and they fight for the title. Meanwhile, the new vampire in town, Mr. Trick, rallies a group of tough vampires, demons and mercenaries together to play a game with the two Slayers, "Slayerfest '98."

My Thoughts:
I don't know what more to say other then this is just a fun episode!

6. Band Candy
Mr. Trick enlists Giles's old buddy Ethan Rayne to manufacture and distribute boxes of candy which turn the adult population into uninhibited, irresponsible teenagers. While the adults are indisposed, the mysterious Mayor Wilkins pays a tribute to a demon.

My Thoughts:
This episode I always had mixed feelings about... on one hand I liked seeing the town go nuts the way they did... on the other hand... I always disliked the character of Ethan Rayne. And by this point... this being his third appearance... I got to the point  of sick of seeing him.

7. Revelations
Xander finds out about Angel's return to Sunnydale and promptly informs the gang who confront Buffy with the fear that he may turn evil again. Meanwhile Faith finds herself under the wing of a new Watcher, Gwendolyn Post, a prim and proper Englishwoman who seems to be intent on showing up Giles at every turn.

My Thoughts:
A good episode....Though I have to admit... even the first time I watched this one... I saw this episode's "bad guy" coming well before they revealed it. I had a problem with that character from first sight.

8. Lover's Walk
Spike returns to Sunnydale a broken vampire. Drusilla has left him, and he will do anything to win her back, including kidnapping Willow and Xander to force Willow to prepare him a love spell. Will Willow do the spell, or can the Scoobies prepare for tragedy?

My Thoughts:
This episode was another good one... Got a bit of a taste of the upcoming Spike when he fights along side of Buffy and Angel against a whole group of vampires.

(From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon on November 13th, 2007)