DVD Collectors Online

Night on the Galactic Railroad, a review by Danae Cassandra

Night on the Galactic Railroad (Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru)
Year of Release: 1985
Directed By: Gizaburo Sugii
Starring: Mayumi Tanaka, Chika Sakamoto
Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Overview:
Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Giovanni, whose life was filled with hardship. He toiled late into the night, caring for his ill mother, and he was scorned by the other children. But Giovanni's life is about to change. As he gazes into the starry sky, a mysterious galactic train appears! Giovanni is about to embark on a magical adventure through the Milky Way!

My Thoughts:
This is a beautiful, traditional hand-drawn animated film.  It's a film that rewards patience and contemplation, a film of quiet moments, friendship, and philosophy rather than action and adventure.  It is definitely not for those with a short attention span.  Some might say that it's not for children ... even though it's a children's film.  I'd disagree, because I think we don't give kids enough credit  either for being able to sit still or for grasping tough concepts.  This is a film about death, and as such it has a lot to say about life.  Highly recommended as a masterpiece of anime, but it's a slow, sad, beautiful film, so be prepared for that.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on December 5th, 2015)

Dolphin Tale, a review by addicted2dvd

Dolphin Tale (2011/United States) Trailer |IMDb |Wikipedia | Warner Home Video Director: Charles Martin Smith Writing: Karen Janszen (Writer), Noam Dromi (Writer) Length: 113 min. Rating: Rated PG : Some Mild Thematic Elements Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Harry Connick, Jr. as Dr. Clay Haskett
Ashley Judd as Lorraine Nelson
Nathan Gamble as Sawyer Nelson
Kris Kristofferson as Reed Haskett
Cozi Zuehlsdorff as Hazel Haskett
Morgan Freeman as Dr. Cameron McCarthy

Plot:
In an inspiring story of the bond between animals and humans, a boy named Sawyer discovers an injured dolphin, who is brought to a marine hospital and named Winter. Unfortunately, her injuries cost Winter her tail, without which she may not survive. But with Sawyer's devotion, a marine biologist's (Harry Connick Jr.) and the brilliance of a prosthetist (Morgan Freeman) charged with creating a new tail, Winter may receive a second chance at life.

Extras:

• None

I just watched the DVD out of the DVD/BD Combo Pack. Unfortunately for some reason all the extras are on the BD disc alone... nothing at all on the DVD. I found the movie itself to be simply amazing. Even more so considering it is based on a true story. I was drawn in from the very beginning... and it kept my complete attention till the very end. A real feel good movie. One I couldn't recommend high enough. An excellent story that is wonderfully done. I just finished this film... and I already feel like I could watch it again. If that isn't a sign of an excellent film... I don't know what is.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on June 22nd, 2013)

Firefly Marathon, a review by Tom

05. Safe
Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg (Writer)
Director: Michael Grossman
Cast: Nathan Fillion (Mal), Gina Torres (Zoe), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Morena Baccarin (Inara), Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), Sean Maher (Simon), Summer Glau (River), Ron Glass (Shepherd Book), Isabella Hofmann (Regan Tam), William Converse-Roberts (Gabriel Tam), John Thaddeus (Stark), Gary Werntz (Patron), Andrew A. Rolfes (Older Grange), Mathew C. Ferreira (Younger Grange), Joel Steingold (Head Cop), Erica N. Tazel (Doralee), Ron Ostrow (Commander), Morina Pierce (Ruby), Skylar Roberge (Young River), Zac Efron (Young Simon)

Nice to see more of River. Also some other great scenes. Like Kaylee's confronting Simon because he says bad things about Serenity's crew lifestyle.
And we get a hint that Shepherd Book has an interesting past which sadly they never had the chance to explore.

Rating:

(From Firefly Marathon on February 27th, 2010)