DVD Collectors Online

Gangs Of New York, a review by Rich

Title: Gangs Of New York

Runtime:166
Certificate:18
Year:2002
Genres:Drama, Action, War

Plot:Martin Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK introduces today's world to the Five Points, a dark corner of the city known to New Yorkers of long ago as the centre of vice and chaos.
Into this frontier of extreme lawlessness arrives the young Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio). Amsterdam is the orphaned son of the slain Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) - once chief warrior of the Dead Rabbits gang that rallied the Irish immigrants of the Five Points.
Amsterdam has returned to the Five Points to hunt down his father's killer. His target is William Cutting AKA "Bill the Butcher" (Daniel Day-Lewis), who has since become the merciless new leader of the neighbourhood, a Nativist who detests the newly arrived immigrants and is determined to fend off all so-called "foreign invaders".

My Review:
You would of hoped that a big movie like this which was condemned as being poor quality on dvd, would have been remastered for blu-ray. Sadly not, there is still problems with hues, ghosting and shadow on the edges of the picture, and it is very noticeable specifically in the big fight scenes. The audio is first-rate and really loud, had to turn amp way down more than usual.
For the film itself, it has many flaws of course most noticibly DiCrapio playing a hard Irish immigrant (   ) but it is a fun action and bloodthirsty tale, with Daniel Day Lewis playing a wonderful role, and it is one of my guilty pleasures.


(From Riches Random Reviews on December 30th, 2009)

Rush Hour 3, a review by addicted2dvd

Rush Hour 3 (2007/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia New Line Home Entertainment Director: Brett Ratner Writing: Ross LaManna (Original Characters By), Jeff Nathanson (Writer) Length: 91 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1, Pan & Scan 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital EX: 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Chris Tucker as Carter
Jackie Chan as Lee
Max von Sydow as Reynard
Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji
Yvan Attal as George
Youki Kudoh as Dragon Lady

Plot:
When a Chinese criminal mastermind flees to Paris, there's only one culture-clashed, crime-fighting duo for the job. Ready to raise hell in the city of lights, Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective Carter (Tucker) instead get caught in an explosive battle between the French police, the Triad gang and two gorgeous femmes fatales! With everybody kung fu fighting to the top of the Eiffel Tower, this one-two punch of hilarious action doesn't let up until the final heart-stopping au revoir!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• DVD-ROM Content
• Closed Captioned

After the last movie I felt like another fun buddy cop movie. I have seen and enjoyed the first 2 movies in this series... but this is the first time I got the chance to see this one. But it is definitely another one I really enjoyed. Has a lot of laughs in it. I would say if you liked the first couple of movies you will like this one as well. Though I would warn that this movie is basically just more of the same... just at a different location.




(From What Movies I Been Watching on June 3rd, 2011)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Smallville Marathon #1

I've never read a DC comic (or Marvel for that matter) and I've only watched the four "Reeve" Supermans and Superman Returns. Thus I have no idea what does or doesn't contradict Superman mythology when I watch Smallville, which is an advantage I think.





Synopsis: A meteor shower hits a small town in Kansas: Smallville. But with that shower a spaceship arrives and it contains a small boy that is adopted by the Kents. 12 years later. Clark Kent, Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross are freshemens on the Smallville Highschool. And Lex Luthor, son of Lionel Luthor takes over the management of the Smallville fertilizer plant. But then an accident happens where Lex nearly gets killed - if it weren't for Clark. And a man awakes from a coma in which he had laid for twelve years.

My Opinion: I really liked the homage to the first Superman movie, when Clark missed his school bus and ran across the fields again. I also liked most of the cast from the start. I also thought it to be interesting that Clark didn't already possess all of his abilities. But the pilot plot also introduces the scheme of the show for at least the first season: Freak-of-the-Week. But they also have some minor arcs from the beginning.

Synopsis: The story continues on the day after the Homecoming. Lex still possesses Lana's meteor rock necklace and intends to help Clark with it. But not only Clark and Whitney are interested in Lana but also Greg. He's stalking her until he's stung by a swarm of meteor-infected bugs. Then he becomes dangerous and only Clark is strong enough to stop him.

My Opinion: An ordinary FotW episode. But also the first where Clark has to accept his fate: He may be the rescuer but often he won't be able to take the credit for it. He has to conceil who he is and that will bring him in as much trouble as facing his opponents will do.

Synopsis: The football coach uses a sauna with meteor rocks which gives him the ability to burn things at will. He is also very ambitious and wants his team to win no matter the costs. And Clark wants to join the team even against the will of his father. Meanwhile Lex's father wants his son to fire 20% of the employees in the fertilizer plant.

My Opinion: A good father-and-son-confrontation episode but both confrontations where totally different of course. If I were to imagine Jonathan Kent's early years I can't help but to think of a certain Bo Duke (The Dukes of Hazzard). To watch Lex over the course of the years is also interesting bceause they choose to portray him as "not so bad" guy in the beginning. If he were bad from the start I don't think it would have been that interesting. There's one problem though: Lex is supposed to be 6 or 7 years older than the others (IIRC he was 10 when the meteors hit Smallville) and although Michael Rosenbaum (29 in 2001) is actually 5 years older than Tom Welling (24 in 2001) it doesn't feel that way. When they both face each other they both seem very adult, but Clark is only a 16-year-old Highschool student.

Synopsis: After sudden flashes of headaches, Clark is able to see through things though he can't really control it. But this new ability helps him to uncover a plot to blame Lex for a bank robbery he didn't commit. A girl who has become a bad copy of Lana has the ability to shape-shift and she can fool everybody but Clark. Meanwhile a reporter tries to blackmail Lex with knowledge about his past in Metropolis.

My Opinion: This episode starts several things. Firstly, the tradition to introduce one new ability in every season, in this case his X-Ray vision. Secondly, Lex's obsession with Clark that will presumably never end. And thirdly we see that he has both a past that is at least greyish and that he becomes ruthless when he's threatened.
I doubt I would have noticed it before Buffy but that was the second time in only four episodes that had at least one scene in a cemetery.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on May 22nd, 2008)