Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

DVD REVIEW: THE SWORD IDENTITY / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: HAOFENG XU/ SCREENPLAY: HAOFENG XU / STARRING: CHENG- HUI YU, YANG SONG, YUANYUAN ZHAO, MA JUN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Marketed as a martial arts film, Haofeng Xu’s The Sword Identity is neither a flashy showstopper akin to House of Flying Daggers or a kinetic comedy in the style of a Stephen Chow flick. In fact, the exact point of The Sword Identity is still a bit of a mystery. All we know is that it’s definitely not Matt Damon wielding ancient Chinese blades across big city rooftops against the CIA. Unfortunately.

The story revolves, unsurprisingly, around the origins of a sword. Anyone wanting to establish a new brand of kung fu has to fight four families in the city of Guancheng who are regarded as the keepers of the art form. When Liang Henlu battles his way into the city and requests a competition, he is outcast by the Chinese for mistakenly owning a Japanese sword and is therefore forced to hide out among a group of gypsy dancers. From there, he ventures out to reveal the true identity of his mysterious weapon and show he has what it takes to fight the four families.

It’s not the most exciting plot on paper, and when you realise the film offers nothing to compensate, it soon descends into a trial of patience. Action scenes are crippled by wonky direction that’s more interested in the scenery. Dialogue exchanges rarely surpass the dull mark and the attempts at comedy are more bizarre than rib-tickling. A sub-plot entirely revolving around a strangely camp commander and his dream of wearing metal armour over his paper-laden garb is one such head-scratcher.

There are flashes of quality in the cinematography, which looks pleasant, with striking colour-drained backdrops, but that’s probably the only straw to be clutched at here. Devoid of thrills and generally any redeeming value, The Sword Identity is one riddle you won’t want to solve.

Extras: None

BLU-RAY REVIEW: KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: STEPHEN CHIODO / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN CHIODO, EDWARD CHIODO, CHARLIE CHIODO / STARRING: GRANT CRAMER, SUZANNE SNYDER, JOHN ALLEN NELSON, JOHN VERNON / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 15TH

For fans of Killer Klowns From Outer Space, this Blu-ray release has been a long time coming. Safe to say, it’s most definitely worth the wait, complete with a new transfer of the main feature and bursting at the seams with additional content that is both informative and enjoyable.

As for the premise, this humorous horror centres on some aliens who land in the small town of Crescent Cove. Don’t be expecting the usual bug-eyed, E.T.-style aliens, for these beings from a galaxy far, far away are clowns. Complete with their circus-shaped spaceship, these homicidal harlequins set out to terrorise the local neighbourhood, turning all in their path into cotton candy cocoons. Whilst Mike (Cramer) and Debbie (Snyder) are well aware of this menace, the local cops naturally don’t believe them and so the clowns are given time to amass quite the list of Crescent Cove victims before the threat is taken seriously. Once Officer Dave Hanson (Nelson) becomes convinced, he teams up with Mike in a mission to rescue Debbie, hunt down these smiling killers and send them back off into space.

The film itself, a bona fide cult classic, holds up remarkably well and is given a fantastic HD digital transfer as part of this release. Never before have we seen popcorn-firing guns, balloon puppets, death by pie, gnarly puppet shows and the like look so impressive, giving a freshness to this 1988 movie. And whilst the movie plays better than it ever has before, it’s with the special features that this latest Killer Klowns release really shines.

In one of the most jam-packed releases we’ve seen in many a year, this Blu-ray consists of enough content to keep the most ardent of Killer Klowns fans occupied for hours on end. From the various featurettes and the audio commentary, it truly is engaging and enthralling to see the trio of Chiodo brothers enthuse about their finest hour and how the whole experience came to be. As much fun as they seem to be having, aficionados of this long-standing fan favourite will similarly find themselves grinning from ear to ear with a release that truly fits the cult classic status of Killer Klowns.

Those unfamiliar with the film may struggle to enjoy Killer Klowns From Outer Space, but this long-awaited Blu-ray release is truly something special for genre fans or for those with a love of fun, imaginative films with a ridiculous premise, classic soundtrack, and a blackly humorous edge. And in fairness, if you’ve never seen Killer Klowns From Outer Space, this release is a perfect starting block to give you all of the information you could possibly need to know about the Chiodo brothers’ sole directorial feature.

Extras: Audio commentary with the Chiodo Brothers / Five featurettes / Cast and crew interviews / Deleted scenes / Killer bloopers / Storyboard and image galleries / Original theatrical trailer / Collector’s booklet

BLU-RAY REVIEW: BRANDED TO KILL / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: SEIJUN SUZUKI / SCREENPLAY: HACHIRO GURYU, TAKEO KIMURA, CHÛSEI SONE, ATSUSHI YAMATOYA / STARRING: JÔ SHISHIDO, KÔJI NANBARA, ISAO TAMAGAWA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Little Tarantino was definitely taking notes when he got his magpie eyes on Japanese cult classic Branded to Kill. With its hitman in a sharp suit and shades, its jazzy score and frequently surreal visuals, this monochrome abnormality is just the kind of thing the Kill Bill director would dig out from the bottom of his memory box when piecing together a super-cool contemporary homage to Japanese cinema.

Branded to Kill was released in 1967, the same year as both Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai and John Boorman’s Point Blank, and there must have been something in the water as this trio smoothly slipped their way onto screens. It angered (and no doubt terrified) its producers but has since been heralded by filmmakers who have been influenced by it ever since.

Jô Shishido is Hanada, the ‘No. 3 Killer’ at the centre of the story. After edging his way up the Japanese hitman league table to number two, he then messes up a job and thus becomes not the hunter but the hunted. To complicate matters, he falls for Misako, a morbid femme fatale.

The black-and-white visuals and shady characters scream noir, while the frequent slappings dished out to female characters (often in the bedroom) make it tough to stomach at times. The eclectic score oozes cool and it all looks the business, but with disorienting angles and befuddling editing, Branded to Kill can be frustrating. It is certainly not lacking in action, either when bullets are flying, sex is steaming or when Hanada is relishing a post-coital rice sniffing. It’s an odd little fetish for a main character and just one more interesting touch that makes the film stand out from the average piece of straightforward crime cinema. With some striking imagery and memorable character traits, Branded to Kill has much to recommend it, but despite all the bullets flying and bodies piling up, its idiosyncrasies never allow it to fully satisfy.

Extras: Interview with director Seijun Suzuki / Interview with star Shishido by critic and author Koshi Ueno / Trapped in Lust, Original Trailers for Branded to Kill and Trapped in Lust

BLU-RAY REVIEW: AKIRA KUROSAWA, SAMURAI COLLECTION / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: AKIRA KUROSAWA / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: TOSHIRO MIFUNE, ISUZU YAMADA, MISA UEHARA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

To review this collection presents a quandary – what else is there to be said about these five established samurai masterpieces: Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and Sanjuro? For anyone who has yet to discover the celluloid dreams of Akira Kurosawa, this collection offers a fine introduction, whilst for everyone else, words are scarcely needed as superlatives have long since followed the very mention of the director’s name.

Between them Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo are the source of inspiration for three popular classics – The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars and Star Wars – and in order to fully appreciate these films one needs to look back to the cinema of Kurosawa and encounter the original stories. But Kurosawa was himself a filmmaker inspired by foreign culture, as is apparent in Throne of Blood, a movie that relocates Shakespeare’s Macbeth to feudal Japan.

Furthermore, this collection presents only one side of this legendary filmmaker. Outside of his samurai films he also contributed masterworks to Japanese noir – High and Low, Stray Dog and The Bad Sleep Well. Meanwhile his seminal drama Ikiru shows yet another side to this storyteller. His films endure because he explored the scope of cinematic narrative – from the chaos of spectacle to a tranquil intimacy; from the cries of war to the silent voice of his characters.

Extras: Audio commentaries / Introductions by George Lucas and Alex Cox / 49-minute discussion of the director by Tony Rayns / Booklet

 

 

BLU-RAY REVIEW: HANNIBAL – THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON / CERT: 18 / STARRING: HUGH DANCY, MADS MIKKELSON, CAROLINE DHAVERNAS, LAURENCE FISHBURNE / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 22ND

One of the best things to come out of television’s newfound love affair with horror, Hannibal enters its second season, the good doctor still in session despite Will Graham’s best efforts otherwise. The anticipated second season picks up where the first left off, with the troubled criminal mind imprisoned for Lecter’s crimes. With Will now up to speed with Hannibal the cannibal’s predilections, however, their little game of flirty cat and mouse is much less one sided. The game is afoot. Mmm… Foot. 

It’s testament to the writing and direction how far we’ve got already. In spite of the series often feeling slow and glacial, producer Bryan Fuller takes care to ensure that each season finishes in a vastly different place from where it started. Compare this to Dexter, in which the serial killer remained (largely) comfortable in his job and home for a full seven series (dead wife and various stalkers notwithstanding) or Bates Motel, which plays more like a family soap opera than Psycho prequel. Without veering into spoilery territory, Season Two of Hannibal never feels as though it is playing for time or padding things out for the sake of it. On the basis of this ending, Season Three looks like it could be its most interesting yet.

But let’s backtrack a little. We open with Graham imprisoned for the murder of Abigail Hobbs, but confident in Lecter’s guilt and his own ability to take the man down. An undeterred Hannibal continues to host his dinner parties on an episode-by-episode basis, while poor Crawford finds himself caught in the middle. Add to that the return of Eddie Izzard, emergence of the twisted Verger siblings and various serial killers popping up throughout, and we find Hannibal in rude health. Confident, unremittingly grim and darkly beautiful, it takes everything that worked in the first series and expands upon it tenfold.

Like a bleak version of the Cumberbatch and Freeman double act, Mikkelsen and Dancy are great in their respective roles, both making the characters their own and sharing a weird chemistry that has since spawned a hundred Tumblr blogs. Mikkelsen does particularly well, breaking loose of Sir Anthony’s shadow to create a wholly different Hannibal, as magnetic as he is dangerous. Of the supporting cast, Fishburne is a great Jack Crawford, while Michael Pitt is repellent as Mason Verger (a name many will recognise from Ridley Scott’s Hannibal). The gruesome tableaux, chilly atmosphere, slow pacing and unlikeable characters will make it hard for everyone to get on board with, but everyone else should adore it. After all, when the alternative is soapy (Bates Motel) or ridiculous (The Walking Dead), intelligent, artistic television such as Hannibal is to be celebrated. As ever, we’re left salivating for more upon its end. Delicious.

BLU-RAY REVIEW: DOCTOR WHO – 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: SAUL METZSTIEN, NICK HURRAN, JAMIE PAYNE, TERRY MCDONOUGH / SCREENPLAY: STEVEN MOFFAT, MARK GATISS / STARRING: MATT SMITH, DAVID TENNANT, JOHN HURT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

As Doctor Who powers into its new era with Peter Capaldi making his mark as the new Doctor, here’s a lavishly presented new 4 DVD/Blu-ray set which mops up the various episodes and assorted bits’n’pieces which celebrated the show’s momentous 50th anniversary and ushered in the end of the Matt Smith era last year. Although there’s little here that’s new even to the most casual fan, it’s undeniably an attractive package which brings together a motley collection of stories, documentaries, spin-off minisodes and Mark Gatiss’ delightful ‘origins of Doctor Who’ drama which makes its Blu-ray debut here.

The Doctor Who episodes really need little further introduction or analysis. It’s excusable for the show to become self-obsessed in its anniversary year and the three ‘Doctor’ episodes which comprise the core of the set are, hopefully, as navel-gazing as the series is ever going to get. Series 7 finale ‘Name of the Doctor’ sees the resolution of companion Clara’s ‘impossible girl’ arc and then teases the arrival of John Hurt’s War Doctor. Alarmingly, the anniversary special ‘Day of the Doctor,’ which united Matt Smith and his predecessor David Tennant, loses much of its lustre in rewatching and the less said about Smith’s boring dog’s dinner swansong ‘Time of the Doctor’ the better.

But An Adventure in Space and Time is the jewel in the crown here. Gatiss’ economical and lovingly crafted script dramatises Doctor Who’s genesis back in 1963 and it’s a beautiful and often wistful piece of work, a love-letter to a TV phenomenon. In truth there was probably little more drama in the creation of Doctor Who than in most other TV shows. Personality clashes, temperamental stars, unsympathetic outside influences putting their fingers in the pie – most TV series could tell a similar tale. Space and Time hangs its hat on the ebullience of creator Sidney Newman, the mild furore caused by the appointment of 28-year-old Verity Lambert as its producer (and a woman!) and William Hartnell’s notorious irascibility and the eventual ill-health which forced him out of the show he adored. It’s gorgeously and sympathetically mounted and its final scene can’t help but bring a tear to even the most jaded eye.

Beyond the episodes and Space and Time itself, it’s all about the special features, and nearly everything you might want from the anniversary year is here. Eighth Doctor Paul McGann’s shock return in minisode ‘Night of the Doctor‘ appears alongside ‘The Last Day’, another brief dramatic ‘online only’ interlude. Episode ‘behind the scenes’ features abound, joined by BBC2’s Science of Doctor Who and BBC3’s Ultimate Guide and the 2013 Doctor Who Prom. Also making its debut here is one of the greatest highlights of the anniversary year as Peter Davison’s brilliant ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ arrives on shiny disc at last. This chronicles the attempts of Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and, briefly, Paul McGann, to inveigle themselves onto the Cardiff set of the anniversary special after having been apparently ignored by the production team. Warm-hearted, good-natured, hilarious and occasionally caustic, ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ alone makes the 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition a must-have.

Some might be frustrated that Matthew Sweet’s excellent BBC2 Culture Show special ‘Me, You and Doctor Who’ hasn’t made the cut (but then neither, thankfully, have Blue Peter’s excitable contributions) but the comprehensive collection of deleted scenes, special trailers, documentaries and even previously unseen footage from the anniversary special cast read-through makes its omission considerably more palatable. It’s a package which neatly and finally wraps up not only the anniversary celebrations but also the era of Smith‘s eleventh Doctor.

DVD REVIEW: AIRWOLF – SEASONS 1, 2, 3, 4 BOX SETS / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT, ERNEST BORGNINE, ALEX CORD / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 8TH

It’s hard to believe that it’s been thirty years since “The Lady” took to the air. Airwolf was different from the other hi-tech series of the time. Unlike Knight Rider, Street Hawk, or even Blue Thunder, Airwolf was set in the “real” world.

When the super chopper is stolen by its inventor, it isn’t taken to a thinly veiled but unnamed “hostile foreign power” – it lands in Colonel Gaddafi’s summer palace in Libya, to be liberated by the moody and sullen Stringfellow Hawke (Vincent) and his upbeat sidekick Dominic Santini (Borgnine). Only, Hawke then steals the helicopter and refuses to give it back to the government until his brother, listed as missing in action in Vietnam, is found and returned to him.

This begins an uneasy truce between “The Firm”, personified by Archangel (Cord), and Hawke. Hawke will fly Airwolf on missions of national interest in which the government can’t or won’t admit involvement, and in return, they will continue the search for Hawke’s brother.

For three seasons, terrorists, spies, saboteurs, double agents, evil industrialists, corrupt officials and gangsters were ruthlessly hunted and eliminated – death from above, literally, in a series that had high production values, if you’ll pardon the pun. Story-wise, the series has dated very well, but bear in mind that it was set in the pre-mobile, pre-internet era.

Then came the tepid fourth season, which, unfortunately, saw our heroes go out with a whimper rather than a bang as the show was recast and the intelligence community’s best-kept-secret weapon was handed over to Hawke’s previously missing brother, Santini’s niece, and a Company agent in a bargain basement cash grab that used stock footage from the original three seasons whenever Airwolf was called upon to fly into action.

Celebrate three decades since she took to the air, by all means; but out of respect, let’s leave the fourth season in the box – it’s like Doctor Who with a new Time Lord at the TARDIS controls.

Extras: None

DVD REVIEW: VAMPS / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: AMY HECKERLING / SCREENPLAY: AMY HECKERLING / STARRING: ALICIA SILVERSTONE, KRYSTEN RITTER, DAN STEVENS, RICHARD LEWIS, SIGOURNEY WEAVER, WALLACE SHAWN, MALCOLM McDOWELL / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 15TH

Despite, or perhaps because of, the ubiquity of vampires in the post-Twilight cinematic landscape, it’s a huge shame that Vamps has taken nearly two years to make its bow on DVD here in the UK; it’s a mostly very decent attempt by director Heckerling, reunited with star Alicia Silverstone, to recreate the success of Clueless from nearly two decades ago, filtered through a genre window.

The film begins with a montage sequence showing how Silverstone’s character Goody was converted back in 1841 and leading up to the present day, filling in the background on her vampire flatsharing best friend Stacy (Ritter) and their eventual nemesis, the evil stepmother type Ciccerus (Weaver, hamming it up outrageously). In two minutes Heckerling gives us more to chew on than Stephenie Meyer managed in her entire saga. What follows is a basic New York after hours socialite romcom, albeit with all the expected undead trimmings, in the style of Heckerling and Silverstone’s previous film, all of which kicks into gear when Stacy finds herself falling for the son of a vampire hunter.

And that’s central as to whether you will enjoy this; if you liked Clueless, then Vamps will satisfy. For anybody looking for something more meaty, much of this might feel rather superficial – and anybody hoping for anything remotely resembling Meyer’s work will probably be sorely disappointed.

The comedy here is somewhat hit and miss, with many of the gags a good twenty years out of date. However, there are plenty of genuine laugh out loud moments, and much of the satire hits fairly close to the mark. But what really defines Vamps is the performances. Stevens and Lewis are likeable enough as the love interests, and Wallace Shawn is just the right side of annoying as the descendant of the original Van Helsing. But Silverstone, looking barely a day older than she did in 1995, is just as magnetic a screen presence as she was back then (Heckerling apparently brings something out of her that other directors can’t seem to find), while Ritter, resembling a Goth Anne Hathaway, is a charismatic and sexy counterpart. They make for rather an odd pair, but their relationship is surprisingly convincing.

There’s very little to mark Vamps out as a must-see film – for most it’ll probably be a renter if it’s something they’ll bother to watch at all – but for the curious and open-minded it’s unexpectedly rewarding, from the early scene-setting sequences to the knockabout final showdown with Ciccerus, and the very last scene in which Silverstone’s Goody has to live with the big decision she and Stacy ultimately make is both simple and extremely affecting. Much better than you might be given to expect.

DVD REVIEW: KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JOE LYNCH / SCREENPLAY: KEVIN DREYFUSS, MATT WALL / STARRING: STEVE ZAHN, PETER DINKLAGE, RYAN KWANTEN, MARGARITA LEVIEVA / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 9TH

After several years in post-production hell (previewing at San Diego Comic Con in 2011) this comedy-horror based around the cult world of costumed fantasy role players (LARP – Live Action Role Playing) finally reaches the public.

A group of friends, Eric (Zahn), Hung (Dinklage) and Joe (Kwanten), are into the extension of the old Dungeons and Dragons type games. They dress up and inhabit the characters they have created. Eric has acquired a book through eBay, which he intends to use when they go to the big meet-up of LARP-ers. Joe has just suffered a relationship break-up and has decided (due to his ex, Beth (Levieva) pointing it out to him), that he should grow up and start living in the real world. Well, he still has his career as a mechanic, and a heavy metal band anyway. His pals, however, have other ideas and shanghai him into attending the weekend mock-fight, The Battle of Evermore (they missed a trick not licensing the Led Zeppelin track!)

Reading from the book, Eric unwittingly summons a very real demon – a succubus that takes the form of Beth, whom it sees in a photograph Joe has brought with him – and is intent on destroying all in her path. The team are aided in battle by new love interest, Gwen (genre veteran Summer Glau).

As mentioned, the film has been a long time coming, and in that time, it seems plenty has gone wrong behind the scenes, not least the director Joe (Chillerama) Lynch being refused final cut. It’s hard to say if the film would actually be any better or not, but the result we are presented with is patchy at best. There’s plenty to enjoy; many of the gags are spot on, and Dinklage is brilliant in a role which actually pre-dates his Game of Thrones fame. Sadly, the tone of the film is where the main problems arise. While we are happy to laugh at these deluded adults and their role-playing, when the violence and gore comes (and there is plenty of it), the juxtaposition is a tad jarring. There’s a tonal issue with the fate of some of the characters, too, which certainly takes the humour out of the proceedings.

That said, it’s an entertaining film, the effects work better when they are practical rather than CGI, as the computer-rendered gore just looks too false. The climactic battle with a giant behemoth summoned by the succubus is spectacularly bloody though.

It’s certainly not perfect, but there’s still a half decent romp to be enjoyed here, if approached with the right frame of mind. 

 

BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE WALKING DEAD – THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON / CERT: 18 / DIRETOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ANDREW LINCOLN, DAVID MORRISSEY, NORMAN REEDUS, STEVEN YEUN, DANAI GURIRA / RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 29TH

By now we’re all familiar with the formula of The Walking Dead — a zombie-filled world that is used as the setting for a strong, multi-layered narrative with characters who have been steadily fleshed out and expanded throughout the show’s run. And this fourth season provides exactly what you would expect and exactly what you would hope for.

Story-wise, we open up to Rick Grimes (Lincoln) and his group of survivors at their apparent safe haven of a prison complex. Whilst Rick is seemingly ready to put down the gun and focus his time on growing crops, this doesn’t last long. First up, a flu-like infection is spreading through the complex, killing and reanimating faces both familiar and new. And just when that problem seems to have died down, The Governor’s (Morrissey) good eye is revealed to be firmly watching the group. After a monumental battle, the prison is near-enough destroyed, forcing the surviving numbers to splinter into separate groups, all with the same mission: to head to the idyllic safety of a location called simply Terminus.

Character-wise, Season 4 sees a lot of development for certain characters, particularly some of the younger faces like the once-redundant Beth (Emily Kinney) and the once-annoying Carl (Chandler Riggs). Andrew Lincoln’s Rick goes through some heavy changes throughout the season’s run, moving from pig-rearing idealist to literally ripping somebody’s throat out. And, as ever, there are some majorly traumatic moments. Yes, visually there’s a lot going on in terms of walker carnage, but the emotional complexities of some of the show’s smaller arcs makes for sublime television. On that front, it’s hard not to think of the journey that Melissa McBride’s Carol goes on during Season 4; her logic might often seem skewed, but she ends up having to do some truly heartbreaking things.

What’s even more enjoyable about Season 4 is that we get to see the focus spread across the group during the second half. Here, with the prison home now seemingly a distant memory, each episode gives its time to just a handful of characters, granting these small pockets of survivors some much needed backstory or at least more to do than merely standing in the background whilst Rick, Daryl (Reedus), et al hog centre-stage.

This latest season gave The Walking Dead’s format a nice shot in the arm, intertwining the obvious splatter action of the walkers with skilfully planned stories involving characters that you now care for, whilst also raising the profile of some cast members who until this season were merely there to serve as background noise and potential walker fodder. Again this show maintains the high standards that it’s set itself. And again we find ourselves eagerly awaiting Season 5 and the chance to discover just what this whole Terminus thing is about.

Extras: Selected Audio Commentaries / Deleted Scenes / Featurettes