DVD Collectors Online

Red Dawn (1984 & 2012), a review by DJ Doena

Director: John Milius

Patrick Swayze   ...    Jed
C. Thomas Howell   ...    Robert
Lea Thompson   ...    Erica
Charlie Sheen   ...    Matt
Darren Dalton   ...    Daryl
Jennifer Grey   ...    Toni
Brad Savage   ...    Danny
Doug Toby   ...    Aardvark
William Smith   ...    Strelnikov
Ron O'Neal   ...    Colonel Ernesto Bella
Powers Boothe   ...    Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner
Lane Smith   ...    Mayor Bates

Synopsis: The tides have turned against the United States. Most of the world has fallen to the communist advances and Europe is too tired for a third war in the same century. But the US is still free. Until now.
Nicaraguan/Cuban/Russian forces have invaded the US and already taken large parts of the country. Somewhere there still is a Free America. The small town of Calumet, Colorado is not that lucky.
It suddenly finds himself occupied and people are getting arrested or even killed.
A group of high school students manages to escape into the mountains and from there they try to defend their country in good ol' Guerrilla warfare manner.

My Opinion: This film is seriously dated. I've watched it for the first time, so there wasn't any nostalgia that could build up over the years.
But 30 years ago, the world was different and people were actually afraid of an all-ending war that would turn Earth into a nuclear wasteland (Nowadays they're still scared because of a terrorist attack that happened more than 12 years ago and had less than 1/3 of the casualties that traffic accidents caused in the same year, so much so that they're willing to give up essential freedoms for a little bit of safety.).
The cast list is an interesting composition with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, three years before they had the time of their lives (pardon the pun) on Dirty Dancing, still-bad-boy Charlie Sheen but also Lea Thompson (Back to the Future or more recently Switched at Birth).






Director: Dan Bradley

Chris Hemsworth   ...    Jed Eckert
Josh Peck   ...    Matt Eckert
Josh Hutcherson   ...    Robert Kitner
Adrianne Palicki   ...    Toni Walsh
Isabel Lucas   ...    Erica Martin
Connor Cruise   ...    Daryl Jenkins
Edwin Hodge   ...    Danny
Will Yun Lee   ...    Captain Cho
Jeffrey Dean Morgan   ...    Tanner
Michael Beach   ...    Mayor Jenkins

Synopsis: This time the Chinese* North Koreans have invaded the US. But the basic story is the same. They invade, the kids flee into the woods and begin their Wolverine terrorist insurgence resistance group.

My Opinion: Actually, this movie this quite a few things better than the original. Before the invasion the NKs disabled all of America's high-tech, computer-based weaponry, so there were no predator drones, no spy satellites, no communications network. It went back to the basics.
In the 80s this wouldn't have been possible, because there weren't that many computers involved in warfare. So this time around it actually makes a little more sense why this didn't end in a big nuclear shootout.
Also, it wasn't a bad idea to give at least one of the guys a background in military training and having been to Iraq he had the knowledge of how insurgence works.
What I also found noteworthy was his comparison to the Viet Cong and the Mujahideen because it at least acknowledged that the VC and others were only doing what these kids are doing now: Defending their own country.
This movie also wasn't a carbon copy; they deviated from the original material in some ways so it didn't become completely predictable for someone who had seen the original recently.
And they have black kids now! In the year of Beverly Hills Cop the original didn't have any memorable black characters in it, not even the obligatory black-dude-that-dies-first.

*Originally the bad guys were supposed to be Chinese but then they also wanted the Chinese market to show this movie, so the bad guys became North Koreans instead.



(From DJ's Short Movie Reviews on February 11th, 2014)

The Internship, a review by addicted2dvd

The Internship: Unrated (2013/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Shawn Levy Writing: Vince Vaughn (Screenwriter), Jared Stern (Screenwriter), Vince Vaughn (Story By) Length: 125 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Russian: DTS: 5.1, Other: DTS: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: Danish, English, Estonian, Finnish, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

---

Stars:
Vince Vaughn as Billy McMahon
Owen Wilson as Nick Campbell
Rose Byrne as Dana
Aasif Mandvi as Mr. Chetty
Max Minghella as Graham Hawtrey

Plot:
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team up to crash the digital world in this laugh-out-loud buddy comedy you've been searching for! Trying to reboot their obsolete careers, old-school salesmen Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) talk their way into an internship program at the state-of-the-art Google campus, vying for a handful of spots among tech-savvy college students who are half their age and twice as smart. The competition is fiercely funny as Billy and Nick break all the rules in a hilarious quest to land their dream jobs!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Digital Copy
• Unrated and Theatrical Versions

I found this one to be a fun and entertaining film.... maybe a bit on the mindless fun side... but fun. I liked how they combined the ways of Old School and New School for a winning combination. I liked the cast... especially the two main cast members Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. Probably because I can relate more to the older characters then I could the younger.



(From What Movies I Been Watching on January 14th, 2017)

Smallville Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. Zod


My Thoughts:
This was a really good episode. Of course... the season premieres usually are... what with having to tie up all the last season's cliff-hangers. I personally don't care much for the addition of Jimmy Olsen. I don't know what it is about that character.. whether it is the way he is written... or if it is the actor playing him... or what... but for some reason this incarnation of Jimmy just bugs me.

2. Sneeze


My Thoughts:
Wow!... new power comes early this season! Of course I always have loved when Clark develops a new power. And this one is no exception. I got a kick out of him blowing the barn door across town... almost hitting Lois while she is on her jog. I did miss one thing in this episode... this time Clark had little problems controlling his new power.. and showed no real consequences if he didn't get the power under control. I do realize it is harder with this power... but think something should have been said other then ohh... gonna sneeze better cover my face. And of course this is the first time we see Lois truly in reporter mode... and say she thinks she found her calling in life.

3. Wither


My Thoughts:
This one is a decent episode... nothing I would call great. I did like the effects used to show how the guys are trapped in the woods by the Phantom Zone escapee. at this point I can still say I don't care for this incarnation of the Jimmy Olsen character. Even to the point that I was like who cares when he was in trouble. Oliver Queen... on the other hand... him I liked. I do think the Smallville writers is doing him right... Though I do admit to not knowing much about the Green Arrow character at all. Though one of the extras on this disc did help me here.


Green Arrow: The Legend of the Emerald Archer
This is a 25 minute featurette on the character of Green Archer going from the early comic book days to the Smallville character. This featurette helped me to appreciate the character much more since I knew very little of the character before him showing up on Smallville. Was an interesting look... definitely enjoyed it.

Smallville: Big Fans
This is a 30 minute featurette on the actual fans of Smallville... they literally went to the homes and workplaces of some extreme Smallville fanatics. I had a lot of fun watching this featurette! I think it is a cool idea to somehow bring the fans in to talk about their favorite show some on the DVDs. This is something I would love to see become a trend in TV Shows on DVD. This is actually the second time of late that I have seen an extra like this... the first being on the final season of Charmed. Other then clips of fanatics in their homes... they also had clips from comic-con and in the main offices of Smallville to see some of the fan letters and such that fans send in. Definitely was a fun extra!

Deleted Scenes:
This disc has deleted scenes from episodes Sneeze and Wither. The scene deleted from Sneezewas definitely good scenes... but nothing pivotal to the plot. But the scene from Wither on the other hand... this one would have supported the episode more by keeping it in. I wish this one was left in the episode.

(From Smallville Marathon on September 22nd, 2007)