Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Every ‘90s kid (and their pocket-money distributing parent) will be familiar with the television (and merchandising) phenomenon that was the Power Rangers. The recent big screen reboot may not have quite set the box office alight but it still managed to generate a renewed interest for a franchise that boasts a grand total of 24 spin-off television series to its household name. Some incarnations have been more miss than hit (we’re looking at you, Megaforce), but Dino Charge is a widely regarded as one of the better efforts, that the likes of Jason and co would be proud of.

Saban continues their unusual choice/cash in by staggering the DVD release of the series and Hero is the fifth and final chapter in the rollout. It covers episodes 17-20 with special Christmas-themed episode Race to Rescue Christmas included as a festive bonus. In-case you’re not familiar with the premise, 65 million years ago the evil Sledge tried to harness control of a source of great power called the Energems, but an alien called the Keeper managed to stop him with the assistance of some handily placed dinosaurs. In 2015, the Keeper partners with Kendall Morgan, a scientist, and along with a new group of Rangers they race to locate all the missing gems before Sledge can get his evil hands on them.

Sledge is a glorious antagonist, particularly compared to some of the one-dimensional villains in some of the older series, but the real stars are the Rangers themselves. By liberating their central characters from the confines of a high school setting, Dino Charge finds plenty of new stories to play with and the series is better off for it. It’s also refreshing to see female characters taking centre stage in roles traditionally reserved for their male counterparts.

Whilst there’s no denying the original series remains the best, Dino Charge is a strong contender for pole position which is no mean feat given there’s over two decades worth of alternatives to choose from. This particular collection features some of the better episodes; in particular the series finale One More Energem raises the stakes higher than before as the Rangers go on the offensive by attacking their nemesis’ ship, a move which neatly sets up the next series Dino Super Charge, whilst the Christmas bonus one-shot is definitely one to enjoy whilst wrapping presents after a trip to Toys R Us.

Dino Charge may not boast the novelty of the first series and the grittiness of the recent reboot but it remains a solid, charming and action-packed family-friendly viewing that future Rangers series would be wise to draw inspiration from.

POWER RANGERS DINO CHARGE: VOLUME 5 HERO / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: BRENNAN MEJIA, CAMILLE HYDE, YOSHI SUDARSO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Three is the first of the Dragon Ball Z movie collections thus far to be based on a specific theme. This set collects both movies in which Frieza’s brother, Cooler is the main threat. In Cooler’s Revenge said brother seeks to kill Goku in retaliation for Frieza’s death, and in Return of Cooler he is a robot, kind of.

The first of these movies is notable for attempting to do a little more with its villain than previous movies had done. Unlike those movies, Cooler’s Revenge has something in the way of an important lesson for its central villain to learn. The movie also manages to raise the stakes by putting Goku out of commission early on in the fight so that other members of the cast have a chance to shine.

However, the movie does little to stand out beyond these elements. Cooler’s Revenge is exactly what can be expected from the Dragon Ball Z movies of its time. It is essentially an extra-long episode. There are a couple of fun moments, such as Chi-Chi’s reaction to Goku telling Gohan to finish his homework. The action is fine, and there are a couple of well-choreographed fights.

The second movie on offer, Return of Cooler is much the same. It is the first Dragon Ball Z movie in the series to be set mostly off of Earth. Instead, it takes place largely on Namek. Anyone who missed the lush green environments from the Namek saga should enjoy seeing them return here. This movie shakes things up further with replacing the usual collection of oddball henchmen with robots, lots of robots. Cooler himself makes for a more menacing antagonist in this form, thanks to certain abilities granted by his new robot body.

There aren’t any special features to speak of this time apart from some trailers. Once again viewers have the option to pick between Japanese audio, English audio, and English audio with Japanese music. Between the two English language versions, the option to play with the original Japanese music is the better choice. That is not to say that the Japanese music is better, it is simply integrated much more skillfully with the dialogue. The Japanese music serves as a fitting background to the dialogue. The US music, on the other hand, tends to play over the dialogue. In some spots, it becomes hard to hear what characters are saying because the US music is drowning them out.

Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Three is a good purchase, but not an essential one. Both movies have little details to them which help them to stand out as movies but on the whole, they are still only okay in terms of quality.

Extras: Trailers

DRAGON BALL Z MOVIE COLLECTION THREE / CERT: 12 / DIRECTORS: VARIOUS / WRITERS:

VARIOUS / STARRING: SEAN SCHEMMEL, ANDREW CHANDLER, STEPHANIE NADOLNY, SONNY STRAIT, CHRISTOPHER R. SABAT / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 26TH

The name Michael Crichton is best known among genre fans as the novelist whose works were adapted into the Jurassic Park series, or as the man behind the classic sci-fi movie Westworld. Another of Crichton’s sci-fi novels, The Andromeda Strain, was adapted to film in 1971 by The Day The Earth Stood Still director Robert Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding; this movie is now getting a DVD re-release courtesy of Australian distributor Umbrella.

The story begins shortly after a US government satellite has crashed near the town of Piedmont, New Mexico, and all but two inhabitants of the town have died instantly. The science types called in to investigate come to believe that an alien germ somehow latched itself onto the satellite. A crack team of scientists is assembled and locked in a high-tech underground base; their mission is to investigate this germ, identify why the two survivors resisted it, and find a way to protect humanity from its spread.

And what this results in is a divisive movie. Those who appreciate The Andromeda Strain praise its adherence to Crichton’s bestselling novel and its scientific depth. Indeed, you can’t fault its dedication to accuracy as it digs deep into how an investigation like this would be carried out and the scientific process of studying an alien lifeform.

But this is also its biggest flaw, as Gidding’s script prioritises the scientific process over any kind of drama or character, and the bulk of the movie which details this process can seriously plod. The first twenty minutes or so, in which the dead town is being investigated, shows some intrigue and promise, as well as some interesting camerawork, but this is scarpered by the slower pace once the team are assembled and begin to watch a PowerPoint presentation about the layout of their base. The largely dull cast don’t seem to bother trying to make this more exciting than it sounds.  In the final half hour, some more interesting themes are brought in, such as the idea that the government my have had shadier motivations than thought about building this biological research base, plus we finally get a bit of action, though it’s too little, too late.

This release from Umbrella is rather lacking – not only are there no new extras, but there are no extras at all. Better versions are out there. Only pick this one up if you haven’t seen the film before, have a Sunday afternoon to spare, and are really into your biological analysis.

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: ROBERT WISE / SCREENPLAY: NELSON GIDDING / STARRING: ARTHUR HILL, DAVID WAYNE, JAMES OLSON, KATE REID / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Regarded as the most prolific fictional character in film history, Baker Street London’s finest, Sherlock Holmes, continues to attract fans today with the recent Guy Ritchie / Robert Downey Jr / Jude Law duo of adventures catering for a modern audience and reminding everyone of the enduring qualities and attraction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation, which first bowed 130 years ago with the original publication of the story A Study In Scarlet.

On occasion though, film-makers will use the source material as a start-off point to take the character in new directions. In 1975, the late Gene Wilder made his directorial debut with The Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother, in which he also starred as a younger brother attempting to steal Holmes’ glory and in 1988, Michael Caine played a dumb actor employed as Holmes by Ben Kingsley’s Watson, who solves crimes whilst working in his day job as a doctor in Without A Clue.

Billy Wilder ushered in the 1970s with The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, which has now become available through Eureka Entertainment as part of The Masters of Cinema Series and is released in January 2018. Scripted with long-term collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, who also wrote The Apartment and Some Like It Hot with Wilder and one of eleven projects they worked on, it is part-parody and part-traditional adventure. It was presented by the Mirisch Corporation, responsible for the likes of classics like The Great Escape.

Robert Stephens is Holmes and Colin Blakely is Watson. Their highly energetic and dovetailing partnership is tested at the film’s outset when Holmes is summoned to be the would-be father of a retiring ballet dancer, providing a very funny sequence of misunderstandings.

However, the real adventure begins when a woman, Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page) is delivered by cab to the Holmes residence.  She is out to find her missing husband and asks Holmes to help her.  The trail leads to Scotland, where the mystery of her husband’s disappearance is merely part of a bigger case…

Shot at Pinewood Studios and in Inverness, Scotland, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes represents a lost opportunity. The title suggests that we would get far more enlightenment about the character and revelation and the classic tales would be referred to more extensively as a sideline to an all-new adventure for the duo.

That said, the first half an hour is gloriously funny and well executed and the film looks terrific in its CinemaScope framing, courtesy of Christopher Challis, who shot Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). The Blu-ray transfer also retains the glory of classic cinema cue dots indicating the original reel changes.

The pity is that Wilder and Diamond didn’t stick to the ballet dancer plot and capitalised on the potential that this story held, instead opting for the familiarity of a standard Holmes adventure.

The film is still enjoyable enough, with good support from Christopher Lee as Holmes’ brother Mycroft and a criminally brief appearance by Irene Handl as Mrs. Hudson and it is the performances throughout that maintain the interest.

Extras: fifty-minute presentation of deleted sequences / fifteen-minute Christopher Lee interview

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: BILLY WILDER / SCREENPLAY: BILLY WILDER, I.A.L. DIAMOND / STARRING: ROBERT STEPHENS, COLIN BLAKELY, GENEVIÈVE PAGE, CHRISTOPHER LEE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s 1989 and the Berlin Wall is about to fall but the Cold War is far from thawing. When a secret list that contains the true identities of covert agents all over the world is stolen by a Russian assassin, MI6 sends Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) into the fray to recover it. Beautiful, cool and extremely deadly, Lorraine finds herself fighting for her life from the moment she touches down in the world’s coldest city, and she isn’t certain that the loose-cannon operative who’s been teamed up to assist her (James McAvoy) can entirely be trusted. In fact, in this endlessly violent game of cross and double-cross, Lorraine begins to realise that she can’t trust anybody. With the body count mounting, time running out and her odds of survival rapidly evaporating, Lorraine discovers that the only way to get the list back to London is by helping a hunted Stasi officer escape to the West because it seems as if the list now only exists inside his photographic memory. But even if Lorraine can survive the seemingly endless hordes of killers that are on their trail, there is a mole inside the organisation who is waiting to strike when she least expects it.

Atomic Blonde was quite rightfully one of the big screen highlights of the summer – a deftly paced, hyper-kinetic juggernaut that isn’t only ridiculously and painfully-realistically violent (there’s no way that its leading lady didn’t pick up a mess of bruises during the increasingly brutal fight scenes) but also attempts to pull an action movie double-salchow by injecting some genuine intelligence and intrigue into its fiercely beautiful mix. Even if Kurt Johnstad’s screenplay (adapted from Antony Johnston and Sam Hart’s graphic novel The Coldest City) isn’t quite as smart as it wants to be, it’s still a hell of a ride that is perfectly complemented by David Leitch’s assured direction and a mesmerising star turn from Ms. Theron. Movies like Aeon Flux, Prometheus and Mad Max: Fury Road had already proven she could more than cut it as an action star, but what she brings to Atomic Blonde is light years beyond what anyone could have expected. It is impossible not to be awed by her. On top of all that, the soundtrack is pretty perfect as well and any movie that opens with Bowie’s theme from ‘Cat People’ is already miles ahead of the game in my book.

As far as the Blu-ray presentation goes, this is an audio-visually flawless offering from Universal with a handful of brief but worth-a-watch special features including a smattering of deleted and extended scenes (although there’s nothing much to write home about here) and a solid audio commentary from Leitch and his Editor Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir. Here’s hoping that this is only the start of Lorraine Broughton’s cinematic adventures because there’s no doubt that Theron, Leitch and Atomic Blonde could become a very fine franchise indeed.

ATOMIC BLONDE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DAVID LEITCH / SCREENPLAY: KURT JOHNSTAD / STARRING: CHARLIZE THERON, JAMES ACAVOY, EDDIE MARSAN, JOHN GOODMAN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

In the 11 years since its release, Paprika, from Perfect Blue director Satoshi Kon, has garnered cult status as an ambitious sci-fi oddity. Not just that, but it’s a mind-blowing swan song for the talented director who died in 2010. In all honesty, it’s one of the most fulfilling achievements in animation from the past twenty years and a Blu-Ray is well overdue.

The film takes place in a relatively near-future Japan where a revolutionary experimental device called the DC Mini allows users to interact with their dreams and the dreams of others. As a troubled detective receives illegal in-dream therapy from a mysterious figure known as Paprika, the DC Mini’s untapped power threatens to envelope the entire world in a living lucid dream where reality and fantasy become indistinguishable.

Even though its Day-Glo surrealism continually inspires child-like wonder, Paprika isn’t for the faint of heart. Its total dedication to the anti-structure of dreams is disorientating to say the least. As an experience it really knows how to exploit dream logic, leap-frogging boundaries with dizzying rapidity. There’s a really great darker edge which creeps in as the film’s multiple fantasies start cascading into each other. Abandoned alley ways illustrate the dark side of the subconscious whilst people’s self-image effects their dream-appearance in confusing and disturbing ways. Time and time again the animation itself offers fresh sumptuous imagery perhaps less easily achieved in live action.

As a dream thriller about corporate sabotage, thievery, mistaken-identity, and idea construction it’s hard not to notice an influence on Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Whilst that film has its charms and thrills Paprika blows it out the park in approach to the fertile grounds of dreams and film theory.

Satoshi Kon has a clear passion for film which he imparts to main character Detective Toshima Konakawa, a closeted film fan whose movie love has gifted him cinematic dreams. In one sequence, Konakawa explains that his dreams are informed by his knowledge of film technique. In an early scene he cuts through scenes from old movies. Film buffs will enjoy, amongst others, an anime version of the carriage fight from Bond film From Russia with Love.

It’s this sort of cinema-wariness that pushes Paprika beyond dream-caper into the realms of something about the construction of fiction itself. Call it Postmodern, call it Meta,  or call it whatever. It’s self-referential in a way that actually says something about cinema and highlights just how important film is to the way we see the modern world both in our minds and in real life. For many that cinematic commentary will be a playful way of granting depth, for others there’s a few essays worth of critical unpacking. Either way it’s a film which happily operates beyond blatant fantastical fun and achieves a level of pure cinema beyond expectations.

So yes, Paprika is a masterpiece. The animation medium lends itself so perfectly to dream capers that it’s no wonder Kon’s final film is regarded a perfect marriage of form and subject. Impeccable drawn, perfectly written, everyone should see Paprika and now is the perfect time.

PAPRIKA (2006) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: SATOSHI KON / SCREENPLAY: SEISHI MINAKAMI, SATOSHI KON / STARRING: MEGUMI HAYASHIBARA, TÔRU FURUYA, KÔICHI YAMADERA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Dark Age, directed by Arch Nicholson, is the kind of film that, with less bite, could have been a cosy Sunday afternoon adventure film. However, Nicholson’s clear adoration for his home turf (and the tougher sensibilities of Oz-based films), makes this a surprisingly deep, high-stakes, caper.

As a film, its somewhere between Crocodile Dundee and Jaws; following the trail of destruction left by an increasingly bold giant croc thought to have sacred properties by the natives. A park ranger joins two aboriginals in a daring attempt to save both the bay and the beast.

It’s an action-packed chase film, a nature thriller, a politically charged conversation motivated by the complicated relationship between aboriginal and white Australia. But its fun and surprisingly exhilarating. Released in 1987, a year after the wildly popular Crocodile Dundee, Dark Age goes beyond a Dundee cash-in and carves out its own particular balance of humour and, weirdly, horror.

As with most Ozploitation films, there’s an inherent horror quality, whether it just be the tougher sensibilities of Australian cinema or genuine engagement with horror trope, the film has a dark heart for sure. Though Arch Nicholson doesn’t harness the raw tension of Jaws, he does dip his toes in the nature horror which fuels it and has the audacity to straight up feed an infant to its Holy Croc with startling brutality. Even Spielberg didn’t have the balls to do that. And it doesn’t stop there, this is for sure a film about a killer crocodile, few punches held. But the crocodile isn’t the worst part, people are.

Horror fans will be pleasantly horrified to find John Jarratt, no infamous worldwide as Wolf Creek’s sadistic serial killer, turning it out as a lovable ranger. Not as deadly or hulking as Crocodile Dundee, Jarratt has his own every-man quality light years from his spine-cracking, skin-flaying other persona.

Crocodile munching and hobo-beating aside, the eventual Mexican standoff between racist drunks, tradition-bound aboriginals, and John Jarratt’s increasingly desperate ranger is a murky ending to a surprisingly weighty caper. It’s a responsible film with a strong moral compass and a real love for all facets of its culture. Nicholson wanted to make a great adventure film which is a testament to Australian culture, and he did pretty well.

DARK AGE (1987) / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: ARCH NICHOLSON / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN CROSS, TONY MORPHETT / STARRING: JOHN JARRATT, NIKKI COGHILL, MAX PHIPPS, BURNHAM BURNHAM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The second onscreen pairing of Hollywood golden couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, The Big Sleep remains one of the greatest film noirs ever made.

Based on Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel and directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, Bogart became the fourth – and arguably definitive – screen incarnation of Philip Marlowe. Over the years everyone from Robert Mitchum to James Caan and Elliott Gould (in Robert Altman’s anti-noir The Long Goodbye) have played the detective, but Bogart’s grizzled version is the only one anyone remembers. In terms of characterisation, Bogart plays it virtually indistinguishable from The Maltese Falcon’s Sam Spade (little surprise considering Marlowe was influenced by Spade), and the character remains the quintessential noir private dick.

And then there’s Bacall. At the time she’d just turned 20, but looked, and played far older. Bogart was 25 years her senior, and the two were already lovers after meeting on To Have And Not To Hold. The pair’s romance developed during The Big Sleep, resulting in Bogart leaving his wife and them marrying during Sleep’s lengthy production. Their chemistry is obvious onscreen and Hawks reshot portions of the film, boosting Bacall’s part to give Hollywood’s golden couple a chance to shine together.

And while the reshoot may have upped the sexual chemistry, it also helped complicate an already convoluted plot. Vital exposition scenes were changed or excised completely, and with 1940s censorship not permitting any explicit mention of the pornography or drugs central to the story, it’s far from the most straightforward film to follow (indeed, both Hawks and Chandler were unsure who was responsible for one of the film’s deaths).

But bizarrely, it works. It’s impossible to follow everything, but we don’t need to. The script (co-written by Empire Strikes Back’s Leigh Brackett, concerns Marlowe investigating a case involving two sisters, a pornographer, a blackmailer, a gangster and a couple of missing lovers) is engrossing enough that you don’t need every plot thread tied up; Bogart and Bacall sparkle; and there’s an impressive rogues’ gallery of villains (including Elisha Cook Jr.) so it cruises by on style alone. The Big Sleep remains one of the ‘40s greatest noirs, and a testament to one of Hollywood’s greatest on and offscreen pairings.

The Blu-ray also contains the unreleased 1945 cut of the movie (more exposition, less Bacall, not quite as good) and a fascinating half hour comparison between the two version, presented by film historian Robert Gitt.

THE BIG SLEEP / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: HOWARD HAWKS / SCREENPLAY: WILLIAM FAULKENER, LEIGH BRACKETT, JULES FURTHMAN / STARRING: HUMPHREY BOGART, LAUREN BACALL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (HMV EXCLUSIVE)