|
"HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART I" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Rated PG-13 Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The penultimate Harry Potter film brings the audience the first half of his seventh year. However, things are a bit different with this one. A new Minister of Magic is in charge, and Voldemort has assembled his army of Death Eaters to take over the wizarding world. When the dark forces start to prevail, Harry Potter and his friends go on the run and search the land for the remaining hoarcruxes, which hold the portions of Voldemort’s eternal soul.
WHAT I LIKED
I’ve been a fan of the Harry Potter films since the beginning, but particularly once Chris Columbus was dumped from the franchise. The most prolific director in these series will end the run, and David Yates has improved upon each film. I may have liked the cohesion of “The Half-Blood Prince” more, but as the “one” in the one-two punch of this film and “Part II,” I got a real charge out of this latest installment.
The biggest plus of this film is that the story is brought out of Hogwarts and into a greater world. Instead of the kids being threatened at school and still having to do homework, the wizarding world is being torn apart. It just seems more realistic that grades and school dances aren’t as important with as perilous as the world has become.
This first film really sets the stage for the final act, which I hope is as awesome as it could be. In short, shit has gotten real for the kids at Hogwarts, and we are ready to witness the final battle. Harry Potter has grown up, and we’ve seen this happen over the past decade. It’s nice to see him move into a more grown-up world.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
To be honest, many of the complaints I’ve heard about this film are valid, though forgivable. It does run a bit long, though it doesn’t run as long as the middle of the actual book does. Also, for a franchise that is greatly considered to be a kid’s series, it’s getting really dark. We’re no longer looking at Cedric Diggory taking a death curse to the face at the end of “The Goblet of Fire.” People are getting killed left and right in this movie, and realistic or not, it’s pretty damn grim at times.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Like many Warner Bros. Blu-ray, the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” disc includes the Maximum Movie Mode. This provides embedded interviews, featurettes and tidbits throughout the feature. I’ve always enjoyed these, though this includes the bulk of the bonus materials. It’s cool to see when watching the film again, though I’d like to see more on a Blu-ray.
Still, there are a couple other extras, including deleted scenes and a look at the soundtrack, which is also available on the DVD. Blu-ray exclusive bonus content include the featurettes “The Seven Harrys” which looks at Daniel Radcliffe’s transformation into several versions of himself, “On the Green with Rupert, Tom, Oliver and James” with several actors playing golf and “Dan, Rupert and Emma’s Running Competition.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Harry Potter fans.
|
"THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) Rated PG Studio: Fox Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The third Narnia film follows the series of books, leaving Peter and Susan behind while Lucy and Edmond go on their own adventure. While staying with their annoying cousin Eustace, the kids are swept back into Narnia where they meet up with Caspian on the vessel the Dawn Treader. Together, they must discover the truth behind a great darkness that is attacking Narnia, and eventually defeat it.
WHAT I LIKED
I like the Narnia movies, even if the first one is easily the best story. Having seen a previous rendition of the film, the charming but painfully low-rent BBC version from the late 80s, I understand that any resulting product is reliant on the source material. In this sense, this film does a fun job telling a great family adventure.
In many ways, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is more relateable to a younger audience than “Prince Caspian” was. It has more fantastic elements whereas “Prince Caspian” dealt with heavier issues and fewer fantasy creatures. “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” brings back the more family-friendly elements of the first film. As someone who has younger children, this is nice to see, even though it wasn’t necessarily embraced by American audiences.
Throughout half of this film, it’s a real effects showcase, sometimes too much. But ultimately it makes it neat to watch, and going from adventure set-piece to adventure set-piece even kept the interest of my three year old son.
I would love to see the Narnia series continue, even if the stories never quite live up to “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
While this isn’t necessarily a complaint about the film itself because it’s dependent on the original book, it still was a bit of a let-down to see only the younger children as the focus of this movie. I do miss Peter and Susan, even though they have the briefest (and arguably unnecessary) bit part in the film.
Finally, while the film is heavy on special effects, it’s not heavy on the budget. The movie carried a sizeable price tag, albeit a fraction of the original and its sequel. With even more elaborate scenes, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” doesn’t quite hold up to its predecessor in terms of special effects. But it still beats the pants off that late-80s BBC miniseries.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The Blu-ray comes with a slate of deleted scenes, an audio commentary and a set-top game. There’s three behind-the-scenes featurettes, plus an animated short “The Untold Adventures of the Dawn Treader.” A batch of other special features are found in an interactive map, which looks at the various elements of the film in short featurettes. These are decent special features, which require some poking around through the Blu-ray menus, and they include flexibility for the kids to enjoy as well.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the books and the franchise who don’t mind a smaller film than the previous two.
|
"GULLIVER’S TRAVELS" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Rated PG Studio: Fox Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Lemuel Gulliver is a slacker who works in the mailroom, secretly crushing on travel editor Darcy. After swindling his way into a travel assignment, he is swept off in the Bermuda Triangle to the land of Lilliput, where the inhabitants are only six inches tall. He is first seen as a beast, then as their protector, though Gulliver soon learns that he cannot fully escape his former life to live in this bizarre fantasy world.
WHAT I LIKED
I still am conflicted with this movie. On one hand, it annoys me, though I attribute much of that to Jack Black’s shtick. On the other hand, I’ve watched it a couple times with my kids, and I see they enjoy the hell out of the movie. This makes it hard to evaluate because it does provide an appropriate and enjoyable entertainment experience for the kids. But yeah, adults aren’t going to like it in the same way.
“Gulliver’s Travels” is a pure kids film, and it retains the satirical nature of the original book, though with a much updated delivery. There’s a certain amount of bizarre respect I have for the movie for recognizing that. Even I thought the crass golden shower sequence in this film was a work of a hack going for the cheap laugh, and then it was pointed out to me that this actually comes from the original story (though I’m not sure it made it’s way into the “Classics Illustrated” comic book adaptation).
Like the “Tarzan” stories, which amounted to nothing more than cheap pulp fiction of the day, “Gulliver’s Travels” has been held up as an untouchable classic and given more reverence than it probably deserves. And so when Jack Black makes a crass, stupid, sometimes incomprehensible film out of it, it’s not that far off base.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
My biggest struggle with “Gulliver’s Travels” is that I’m not a Jack Black fan. I never have been, and I don’t think I ever will be. A little Jack goes a long way, and there’s a lot of Jack in “Gulliver’s Travels.”
While the film retains the satire of the original story, it goes too far with the pop culture references. Sure, they’re funny in small doses, but they’re just laid on so thick here.
Still, ultimately, this film is harmless movie that slides under the heads of most people evaluating it professionally.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The three-disc Blu-ray set also includes a DVD and Digital Copy disc. Special features includes a gag reel, deleted scenes and several short featurettes: “Little and Large,” “Jack Black Thinks Big,” “Gulliver’s Foosball Challenge” and “War Song Dance.”
The Fox Movie Channel also provides several clips including “In Character: Jack Black,” “In Character: Jason Segel,” “World Premiere” and “Life After Film School: Rob Letterman.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Kids and hardcore fans of Jack Black.
