Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

HARLOCK SPACE PIRATE: COLLECTOR’S EDITION

BLU-RAY REVIEW: HARLOCK SPACE PIRATE: COLLECTOR’S EDITION / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: SHINJI ARAMAKI / SCREENPLAY: HARUTOSHI FUKUI, KIYOTO TAKEUCHI / STARRING: DAVID MATRANGA, JESSICA BOONE, ADAM GIBBS, MIKE YAGER, EMILY NEVES / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 27TH

Released in Japan in 2013, the gothic space opera Space Pirate Captain Harlock marked Toei Animation’s biggest production budget to date, with $30 million behind the film. Based on Leiji Matsumoto’s manga series, which ran from 1977 – 1979, and the subsequent ’78 anime, Harlock is back with a vengeance. He’s the only one who can save mankind, but the bureaucratic Gaia Corporation conspire to stop him.

The opening text and visuals give a swell of context, but with the following voiceover it does seem like information overload. Given that the creators have brought this beast back from the brink, you can understand the enthusiasm, with the 3D option only driving the point home.

There’s a very awkward English dub that seems more like a director’s commentary than dialogue coming out of the characters’ mouths, and several of the characters’ names have also been westernised; Yama became Logan, Isola became Ezra, and so on.

Harlock Space Pirate is loaded with familiar stuff for fans of anime, sci-fi or both, blending a visual aesthetic of cowboys, swashbucklers and steampunk. But it’s the archetypal characters that are difficult to really get behind. Miime is an intriguing elven alien bound to Harlock and his ship, the Arcadia, though tragically underused. Kei Yuki is a fun character, but does come across two-dimensional as your token spunky woman. Harlock himself is all brooding and rugged sexuality, but, like the rest of the players, he’s rather dull and flat.

The animation has a meticulous attention to detail, being the result of a five-year production. The intricate settings have so many flourishes that only repeat viewings can allow you to take them in. Little surprise then, the animation has been courting awards and accolades the world over, and it’s easy to get blindsided by its beauty. Nevertheless, there is a serious shortcoming in the script department.

While much of the dialogue might have got lost in translation and forced to fit, the story isn’t inherently bad, it just lacks the same wanderlust as its visuals. At almost two hours, the animation alone isn’t quite enough to hold audience attention. But for anyone still sore from Star Trek Into Darkness (i.e. everyone) and those counting down the days until The Force Awakens lands, Harlock Space Pirate may be just the film to tide you over.

Special Features: Collector’s booklet / Bonus disc featuring the original Japanese edit

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RIBBIT

DVD REVIEW: RIBBIT / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: CHUCK POWERS / SCREENPLAY: AMIR HAFIZI, CHUCK POWERS / STARRING: SEAN ASTIN, TIM CURRY, RUSSELL PETERS, CHERAMI LEIGH / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30TH

Expectations for new animated films are always going to be high. While the word “classic” is bandied about with often flippant overuse, there are films such as Frozen, Despicable Me and the Toy Story trilogy that with the passing of time may one day lay claim to that sought after moniker. With that in mind, Ribbit from KRU Studios doesn’t do anything to warrant even slightly memorable status let alone approach consideration as a classic.

Ribbit (Astin) is a frog with identity issues. He doesn’t like jumping, he doesn’t like water, and to make matters even worse he’s poisonous. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t belong with the rest of the leaping, swimming amphibians, and following some rather iffy advice from Deepak (Peters), a doctrine spouting vampire bat with questionable motives, he sets off to find his true purpose accompanied by best friend Sandy (Leigh), a flying squirrel.

The problem with Ribbit is that it’s hard to know exactly who it’s aimed at. On one webbed foot, there is no humour aimed at adults; there are no knowing references or cheeky winks that would court the parental vote, and while this is not a bad thing in the right film, it diminishes any grown-up appeal Ribbit might have had. On the other foot, there are moments that might be lost on the younger, single digit-aged demographic, one in particular involving what appear to be German-speaking tourists of unknown creature origin that occasionally require the inclusion of subtitles when speaking in their own language. As such, younger interest may also wain pretty quickly.

The central story itself draws on classic fairytale material for its inspiration, and uses this to repeatedly hammer home its relevant if overly-used message. As the titular frog embarks on his “journey” to discover himself, he somehow convinces himself that deep down he is actually a prince and all he needs is a little lip action from a willing princess to restore him to this true form. Throughout his quest he is constantly being told to “just be himself” and “you are who you’re supposed to be”; moral edicts that fall on deaf ears until the predictable self-realisation in the final act. The blunt, formulaic wielding of this central theme further alienates the viewer and if anything comes across as a little patronising.

Sadly Ribbit doesn’t do anything to earn the right to repeat viewing. There are no scenes of note and no moments any viewer of any age will deem worthy of repetition. While the film may look nice in places, although the 3D is clunky and uninspiring, this is a disappointing film that will struggle to find an audience. Perhaps not only the frog has identity issues.

Special Features: Making of Ribbit / “Magical Moment” music video

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ROBOCROC

DVD REVIEW: ROBOCROC / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: ARTHUR SINCLAIR / SCREENPLAY: BERKELEY ANDERSON / STARRING: CORIN NEMEC, LISA MCALLISTER, STEPHEN HARTLEY, DEE WALLACE, KEITH DUFFY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

SyFy’s bizarre obsession with ramped-up reptiles continues with this utterly ludicrous 2013 “original movie” cruelly unleashed on DVD upon an unsuspecting UK audience who really ought to know better by now. In RoboCroc, a prototype rocket packed with nanobots develops a fault shortly after take-off and crashlands, inevitably, in the woods outside a water park packed with curiously pallid, stodgy-looking teenagers. The nanobots swarm out of the damaged capsule and pile into the nearest living creature – a damned harmless curious crocodile. The nanobots set about transforming the croc’s body into metal so he becomes… a robocroc, if you will. Despite the fact that he’s turning into a machine (the nanobots are a dodgy scientific weapons experiment gone horribly – and laughably – wrong) Robo still has a taste for human flesh so he sets off to devour any human witless enough to get in his way as he rampages aimlessly about the place.

RoboCroc is trashy stuff even by SyFy standards. Set in America but painfully obviously filmed in the middle of nowhere in Bulgaria, it’s an effort characterized by achingly-poor CGI and crippled not only by its own inherent stupidity but the fact that the budget won’t stretch to much in the way of spectacle or incident. Most of the deaths occur off-screen or are depicted in extreme close-up and the woeful script lacks anything remotely approaching wit, pace or intelligence. Bland, unlikable characters run around looking worried until Stella the croc sheds the last of her scales and becomes a silly, appallingly-animated metal monstrosity which never manages to look even remotely realistic or connected to what we might loosely describe as the ‘live’ action. Ultimately, the only real interest the film can engender is from its remarkably eclectic cast, from Corin (Parker Lewis) Nemec, Dee (Elliott’s Mom from ET) Wallace, Britain’s Stephen Hartley (psycho cop Tom Chandler in The Bill) and – wtf? – Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, who gets second billing despite appearing in about two scenes fifteen minutes from the end credits but at least gets the opportunity to indulge in close combat with RoboCroc herself.

We never knowingly avoid an obvious joke here at STARBURST and we’re not about to start now. Let’s just say that, as you might have suspected, RoboCroc really is a complete and absolute crock.

Special Features: None

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THE APOSTATE: CALL OF THE REVENANT

DVD REVIEW: THE APOSTATE: CALL OF THE REVENANT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ANDY DODD / SCREENPLAY: ANDY DODD / STARRING: JAMES BRYHAN, HOLLIE ANDREWS, TERRI DWYER, ANTHONY WEBSTER, BOB SANDERSON / RELEASE DATE: TBC

The Apostate: Call of the Revenant marks the debut feature film from media whizz Andy Dodd. Given the film’s stunted budget and stark minimalist approach to setting, it isn’t one for mainstream taste. Carried by the strength of Dodd’s direction and stripped-back script, it’s a hard hitting true crime thriller.

It’s a slow burn effort that uses the confusion of its central character to disorientate the audience. Dodd uses a great pacing to gradually build up an electrifying sense of tension. The film opens with a fanfare of explicit Hostel-style torture, and despite the odd CG blood spurt, the practical effects, what little there are, are impressive. It lends a believable grunge of violence and grubby physicality to the screen.

Despite its deceptively simple premise, there’s not so much a plot as a hazy blur of tangible violence and torture. Nevertheless, Lance Cooper (Bryhan) wakes up caked in blood and breathing heavily, pulling his way around a disused car park. It adopts an interview format to frame the context of the brutality, opposite a brilliant performance from Hollie Andrews, all the while interjected with flashbacks. The film plays with a non-linear narrative to piece together the events leading up to Cooper’s incarceration.

The film does suffer in the sound department, the echoes and stock effects betraying its budget. Though it does make up for it with the score, being a rich synth soundscape of ambient dread.

The Apostate is a well shot and stylish effort from Dodd, who takes a DIY approach; writing, directing, producing and shooting the film himself. It’s a confident effort and a visceral assault on the senses, with Dodd proving what he can do for next to nothing. Imagine what he could do with funding.

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THEATRE OF DERANGED II

DVD REVIEW: THEATRE OF DERANGED II / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ERI AKITA, AMANDA BLACK, JODY BARTON, OLIVIA BLAKE / RELEASE DATE: TBC

A second anthology of five short horror films not quite up to par with ABCs of Death, which we also know isn’t A to Z of enthralling plots or A-list acting. But that is the whole point of a short film, isn’t it?

Theatre Of The Deranged II allows us to delve into next-to-nothing budget horror films. It’s all about originality for these films. Yes, there are many moments to judge here, depending on your horror tastebuds, but cliché characters and the obnoxiously naïve attempts to throw sex and misogyny into the plot doesn’t win originality at all, which sadly is the case with most of these shorts. However, all is not lost as you may find one or two gems amongst the gravel; there is something worth raving about after all.

Directors James Cullen Bressak and Dustin Mills are by far the two filmmakers that stand out the most, with Bressak creating a unique idea with the third short Unmimely Demise. The whole idea behind iist what if a real mime artist could actually create real objects out of thin air. Sounds fun? It is fun! Bressak puts a twisted spanner in the works with his murderous mime. It’s a new take on the killer clown but you don’t even need props because it’s all pretend.

Mills, on the other hand, is using a well-known story with new dynamics and an artful style in the final short PlateFace. The acting is played out in movement and actions rather than dialogue, and there’s a good choice of the crisp monochrome style as it sets the tone straight away. The visuals in this one are by far the best, and it doesn’t need dialogue to enhance the story.

It is this kind of originality and thoughtfulness that make these anthologies worth watching and important for new filmmakers to present their work loud and proud, even if it stinks. All these shorts are tied together with segments from host Damien Shadows, who brings in a little fun and reminds us that this isn’t taking itself too seriously. For a straight up horror buff who wants to find something really different, you are likely to find it here.

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THE NINJA IMMOVABLE HEART

DVD REVIEW: THE NINJA IMMOVABLE HEART / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: ROB BAARD, JOHN BALAZS / SCREENPLAY: ROB BAARD, ROGER NEAVE, DANNY GLOVER, JOHN BALAZS / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Not since Harrison Ford in The Expendables 3 has an actor visibly given so little of a shit about his work as poor Danny Glover does (or doesn’t, rather) in The Ninja Immovable Heart. Resisting the urge to go with a “too old for this shit” joke, we’ll instead suggest that his befuddled “Where am I? What is this?” that opens the film is more than mere (bad) acting. Shot against a green screen in a single room, Glover’s scenes have the air of a hostage video or police interview about them, as though he was lured to the film with a bottle of chloroform rather than the script or desire to make a film about ninjas.

Not that anyone really wants to make or see a film about ninja these days – hence the subgenre being left almost entirely to low-budget cinema and Mr Bean Snickers adverts. With Glover barely in it (and certainly not playing a ninja), The Ninja Immovable Heart casts an odd looking white guy as its ninja, flinging him into the middle of a series of topless torture sequences and badly CGI’d (but otherwise effective) fight scenes. There’s no use expecting traditional ninja action either, with the story playing out more like an episode of 24 (complete with split screen filming and a big digital clock) than the B-movie Ninjitsu one might have hoped for, given the title.

There’s no denying it has (immovable) heart, but it’s slow, silly and self-indulgent. The fighting might be authentic and hero Reeve’s physicality impressive, but there’s no hiding its underlying cheapness. Not paying Danny Glover enough leaves him on the phone for most of the film, like a really bad version of Locke spliced with an entirely different movie. Director Rob Baard does fine as the lead (in a cut-price Tim Roth sort of way) but his story simply isn’t interesting enough to sustain the lulls in action. There is also, apparently unironically, a character named John Carpenter in it. Make of that what you will.

The Ninja Immovable Heart is a film every bit as clunky as its title. It has some decent action and an interesting leading man, but none of that’s worth suffering through the dull story for. In this case, we’re with Danny Glover: confused, mildly irritated and bored stiff.

Special Features: TBC

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ZOMBIE RESURRECTION

DVD REVIEW: ZOMBIE RESURRECTION / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JAKE HAWKINS, ANDY PHELPS / SCREENPLAY: ANDY PHELPS / STARRING: ERIC COLVIN, JIM SWEENEY, DANNY BROWN, SIMON BURBAGE / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 23RD

It feels like there is a new zombie film sneaking up every time you suspiciously glance over your shoulder and this week is no different. From writing/producing/directing team Andy Phelps and Jake Hawkins comes a debut feature that promises to put a new spin on the distinctly familiar tale of a ragged group of survivors battling an undead holocaust. The reality is, it kind of does and doesn’t.

Zombie Resurrection’s serving of survivor buffet is made up of generally unlikeable, disappointingly familiar characters who are all turned up to irritating on the personality dial. There is the chavvy one, the nerdy one, the officious one, the macho one… you get the idea, and not one of them warrants any sympathy or support from the audience. As it turns out, some months after a viral outbreak that does the obvious, this group of misfits are trying to reach Imperium, the most protected colony in the land, but are forced to take shelter in what they wrongly assume is a deserted school. Instead the halls are crawling with zombies, drawn by the mysterious existence of some sort of Jesus-esque putrid prophet who has the ability to make the undead live again. Or something like that. The strange thing is that this is the singular plot point that could have made Zombie Resurrection interesting and yet it is discarded with little emphasis or explanation. It’s not often you will find yourself longing for a little more exposition in a film but this is certainly one of those times.

This glaring script oversight aside, Zombie Resurrection is well put together. The practical effects are impressive and there is more than enough messily bloody moments to keep gore fans happy. The acting is perfectly passable and there is some decent humour, most of which comes from macho man Mac (Sweeney). The problem is, as with any horror comedy that features zombies, the unavoidable comparison with Shaun of the Dead. While no film may ever live up to the lofty standard established by Edgar Wright’s modern classic, low budget releases such as 2013’s Stalled demonstrate that there are still interesting and original things to be done within the genre.

In the end, frame of mind could be crucial in determining whether you enjoy Zombie Resurrection or not. Approached with an optimistic sense of fun, and perhaps assisted by the ingress of several large drinks, this is an entertaining and visceral, if not entirely successful, late night film fix. Approached with critical sobriety, it sadly becomes almost as annoying as some of its characters.

Special Features: None

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WOODEN CROSSES

BLU-RAY REVIEW: WOODEN CROSSES /CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: RAYMOND BERNARD / SCREENPLAY: RAYMOND BERNARD, ANDRÉ LANG / STARRING: PIERRE BLANCHAR, GABRIEL GABRIO, CHARLES VANEL, RAYMOND AIMOS / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30TH

If ever a film met the requirements for Eureka Entertainment’s Masters of Cinema series, it’s Raymond Bernard’s seminal World War One drama Wooden Crosses (Les crox de bios). To coincide with the hundred year anniversary of the start of the ‘Great War’, Pathé carefully restored the film last year, and now it’s released bundled up with insightful extras.

Adapted from the novel by Roland Dorgelés, a former corporal of the 39th, Wooden Crosses sees the young and spirited student Gilbert Demachy (Pierre Blanchar) joining the French army in 1914 and a cast made entirely of war veterans. The film starts by showing the soldier’s cheer and optimism; their drinking, dancing and singing punctured by the death of a comrade, carried solemnly through their proceedings. Even as they hunker down in the trenches, there’s still comradery and cheer evoking Jessie Pope’s blinked propaganda poem Who’s For the Game. But quickly the cheer and high spirits fade, and the nightmarish reality of their situation takes over.

The cinematography is sublime, with transitions that bleed and blend into one another, draping the film in a prolonged sense of time. Even with the ugliness of war it captures, there’s also moments of beauty and introspection, particularly the magnificent shot of the sun rise over no man’s land. Along with the stunning set design, Wooden Crosses remains utterly convincing, led by the powerful score, snaking its sounds with the darkening lives of the soldiers.

The conflict scenes still pack a surprising punch, depicting all the unflinching cruelty of warfare, and the wounded soldiers desperate for life is still deeply upsetting. The ending proves particularly poignant with Demachy weakly singing a song, a call back to the optimism of the soldiers at the beginning, and how it’s perverted over the course of the narrative.

Since its release in 1932, time has done little to dull the visceral impact of Wooden Crosses, which proves every bit as profound, touching and frightening as any contemporary offerings.

Extras: Video interview with historian Marc Ferro and film historian Laurent Veray; documentary on film restoration; Documentary – Wooden Crosses: A Sonic Adventure; archival interview with director Raymond Bernard; archival interview with Rolan Dorgelés; vintage 1914 newsreels; documentary piece on early 20th century poster artist Andrien Barrére; Documentary – The Absent Battle, The Omnipresent War; 36 page booklet.

THE ABCS OF DEATH 2

BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE ABCS OF DEATH 2 / CERT: 18 / DIRECTORS: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: MARTINA GARCÍA, BÉATRICE DALLE, TRISTAN RISK, LAURENCE R. HARVEY, ANDY NYMAN / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 23RD

Of all subgenres of horror, few have as narrow margin for error as the portmanteau piece, being only as good (or bad) as their best (or worst) segment. For every V/H/S 2 there’s a V/H/S: Viral, for each Little Deaths, an ABCs of Death. And, yes, we’re using the latter for negative comparison here. Because, in spite of its ingenious idea and cool talent behind the lens, 2012’s The ABCs of Death emerged as one of the year’s worst, marred by stupid fart jokes, unmemorable stories and a general lack of smarts. It speaks volumes that the absolute only thing this writer remembers from that movie is a scene in which a prostitute stands on a kitten until it dies.

Thankfully, the format gives the sequel ample opportunity to blaze its own path and forget about the previous film’s mistakes (of which there were almost twenty six). Thankfully, like the aforementioned V/H/S 2, this sequel is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Even more remarkable, considering how many opportunities there were for the film to fall apart, is that the good actually manages to outweigh the bad. On some occasions, it even crosses a line into genuine brilliance. It starts out strong, with the one-two punch of E.L. Katz’s clever A is for Amateur (via a quick cameo from Andy Nyman) and Julian Barratt’s enjoyably silly B is for Badger and gets all the way to ‘L’ (your mileage may vary) before its first out-and-out terrible instalment – shortly followed by the nadir of P is for P-P-P-P Scary. There’s a few more fluffed pieces, misjudged ideas and downright confusing elements scattered about here and there, but the speed and efficiency of the delivery means that you’re never far away from something more to your own tastes. Steven Kostanski’s W is for Wish is a definite highlight, as is Hajime Ohata’s clever O is for Ochloracy, the heart-rending J is for Jesus, and Soichi Umezawa’s inventive Y is for Youth.

If it’s something a little more bizarre you’re after, keep an eye out for Grandad, Zygote and the chunder-inducing Deloused. Phew. That’s eleven out of twenty-six covered so far, and we haven’t even mentioned the brain transplants, Russian roulette, desert islands, political parachutists or Soska Sisters. As a viewing experience, it’s almost as exhausting to watch as it is write about. While there will be many turned off (or left indifferent) to its shock tactics and self-conscious edginess, you’ll be in no danger of forgetting about The ABCs of Death 2 anytime soon.

MICHIKO AND HATCHIN PART 2

DVD REVIEW: MICHIKO AND HATCHIN PART 2 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING; TERRI DOTY, TORU KUSANO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Michiko and Hatchin is a Japanese anime set in a fictional Latin-American nation that seems to be a hybrid of Japan and Brazil. In the previous eleven episodes (previously released and reviewed here), we meet the two title characters: Michiko a beautiful diva with a bad temper, and Hatchin, who she kidnaps/rescues from her strict Catholic foster family.

Created by the same team behind Cowboy Bebop, it is impossible to quit the series halfway through. The two-disc DVD set includes the last eleven episodes from the escape caper and picks up where the first DVD set left off; with Michiko still at death’s door and Hatchin forced to find alternative treatment for her accomplice that won’t alert the authorities.

It is not entirely clear whether Michiko and Hatchin are biologically related or not, and a big part of the appeal to keep watching is to find out whether they really are mother and daughter as implied in the first episode. This question loses its important as the series progresses, though, and the two form an unlikely bond regardless. The relationship is often played for laughs, however, as often it is the younger Hatchin, who has to take the parental role. In the one episode Hatchin is even forced to get a job to pay for Hatchin’s medical treatment from an alleged faith healer. The eleven-year-old Hatchin even calls Michiko “a baby” in this episode then she refuses to get out of bed to see the religious huckster.

You can enjoy Michiko’s temper tantrums and shooting sprees in both English and the original Japanese dub, which is also included. There are also new documentaries which include interviews with the cast.