2226 replies to this topic

[Double-Oh-Zero]

Pan's Labyrinth

[Loomis]

ROCKY BALBOA (released in the UK yesterday). A decent haul of bonus material, with a couple of interesting making-ofs, some deleted scenes (that really put a different emphasis on Rocky's relationship with Paulie) and a Stallone commentary. A single-disc affair that puts the two-disc so-called collector's edition of CASINO ROYALE to shame.

[chris-o]

The Bourne movies
Limited steel case edition of the Ultimate James Bond DVD's

[carddoug]

lost seasons 1 and 2

[00Twelve]

Don't remember what the last one was, but I'll guarantee the next will be the new Collector's Edition of "Becket".

[Judo chop]

Pan's Labyrinth

Me too. Harmsway had better not be wrong about this one...

ROCKY BALBOA (released in the UK yesterday). A decent haul of bonus material, with a couple of interesting making-ofs, some deleted scenes (that really put a different emphasis on Rocky's relationship with Paulie) and a Stallone commentary. A single-disc affair that puts the two-disc so-called collector's edition of CASINO ROYALE to shame.

I'm surprised it took you this long, Loomis!

The alternate ending is something that I wish WASN'T on the disc. The theatrical ending is by far the better wrap up to the series, IMO. It kind of soiled it seeing that they even considered the 'alternate' route. I'm still in the stages of purging it from my memory.

[Royal Dalton]

Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve, with Barbara Stanwyck.

[Double-Oh-Zero]

Pan's Labyrinth

Me too. Harmsway had better not be wrong about this one...

Unless he said it was awful, no. By far one of the top five films of 2006, IMO, and Guillermo Del Toro's undisputed masterpiece.

Anyway, the last one I bought was a blind buy. Thankfully, I enjoyed it quite a bit...

28 Days Later

[Harmsway]

The next DVD I'll buy will be HANNIBAL RISING (unrated). It comes out next Tuesday. I wasn't such a big fan of the movie, but I want to own it because I own all the other Lecter films.

[Loomis]

ROCKY BALBOA (released in the UK yesterday). A decent haul of bonus material, with a couple of interesting making-ofs, some deleted scenes (that really put a different emphasis on Rocky's relationship with Paulie) and a Stallone commentary. A single-disc affair that puts the two-disc so-called collector's edition of CASINO ROYALE to shame.

I'm surprised it took you this long, Loomis!

Well, like I say, it was only released over here on Monday.

Great Stallone commentary - no waffling anecdotes or showbiz backslapping, just clear scene-by-scene explanation of his intentions and choices while making this film, covering writing, acting, lighting, editing, score and so on. Fascinating for anyone interested in the filmmaking process. He reveals improvisations made for weather/budget reasons, as well as some surprising info - for instance, I'd no idea that so many small but memorable roles were played not by actors but by non-professionals chosen on the basis that they were "Philadelphia types". Apparently, Sly really wanted this movie to be about working class Philly.

So the Slymeister says, for the scene in which he turns on a thug outside a bar, he came under great pressure to show a beating rather than just threats. It's easy to picture a meeting of Evil Hollywood Studio Moneymen™, with "the suits" insisting: "But we gotta have Rocky pounding this guy! Just think of how cool it'll look in the trailer!" Similarly, one imagines that there was also pressure to have a scene making it mindnumbingly clear to the dummies in the house that Rocky was on his way to a romantic relationship with Little Marie.

The deleted scenes are not plentiful, but they're interesting (a couple really drip drama, pathos and character). The film always felt abrupt and badly-cut to me where some of them had been removed, even when I didn't know what, if anything, had been taken out. And there's a great gag that would have brought the house down with warm, ice-breaking laughter (as opposed to mocking laughter) just a minute or so in, relaxing the audience for the ride and putting them firmly on Rocky's side - it's odd it was taken out, but perhaps Stallone didn't want to risk breaking the relatively sombre mood at that point.

The great news for fans is that, in his commentary, Sly promises a director's cut of ROCKY BALBOA.

[Loomis]

The next DVD I'll buy will be HANNIBAL RISING (unrated). It comes out next Tuesday. I wasn't such a big fan of the movie, but I want to own it because I own all the other Lecter films.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one on the big screen - very flawed, yes, but it felt in many ways like a Fleming novel - gastronomy and sophistication in a period setting, grotesque villains, and so on. Like Bond, the young Lecter is the product of an actually very austere, bleak, poverty-stricken time and place, but breaks into a world of plenty where the pleasures of the rich are paid for in blood. Or somefink. Anyway, I don't think HANNIBAL RISING is as bad as it's made out to be, but then again I'll probably avoid the DVD release just to preserve the rose-tinted memories.

[Judo chop]

Pan's Labyrinth

Me too. Harmsway had better not be wrong about this one...

Unless he said it was awful, no. By far one of the top five films of 2006, IMO, and Guillermo Del Toro's undisputed masterpiece.

Anyway, the last one I bought was a blind buy. Thankfully, I enjoyed it quite a bit...

28 Days Later

28 days. Best zombie film ever. IMO.
Pan

[Doctor No]

Daredevil: The Director's Cut Never seen it, bought it on the cheap.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home I'm finally getting around to seeing the Trek movies, also bought on the cheap.
Summer School It's a good bad movie. Very 80s. I've always liked it.

[Harmsway]

The great news for fans is that, in his commentary, Sly promises a director's cut of ROCKY BALBOA.

I'd be interested in watching that. I felt like some material was missing from ROCKY BALBOA, and I'd love to see how it would play with deleted material reinstated.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one on the big screen - very flawed, yes, but it felt in many ways like a Fleming novel - gastronomy and sophistication in a period setting, grotesque villains, and so on. Like Bond, the young Lecter is the product of an actually very austere, bleak, poverty-stricken time and place, but breaks into a world of plenty where the pleasures of the rich are paid for in blood. Or somefink. Anyway, I don't think HANNIBAL RISING is as bad as it's made out to be, but then again I'll probably avoid the DVD release just to preserve the rose-tinted memories.

It ain't that bad, by any means. It was better than it had reason to be, still not great though. As far as the DVD release, I'm also interested in the re-instated footage (13 minutes, or something like that, so I'm understandably curious) and deleted scenes.

[Loomis]

The great news for fans is that, in his commentary, Sly promises a director's cut of ROCKY BALBOA.

I'd be interested in watching that. I felt like some material was missing from ROCKY BALBOA, and I'd love to see how it would play with deleted material reinstated.

Well, it'll be longer, obviously. The deleted scenes on the DVD are mostly maudlin talkfests between Balboa and whichever poor schmo has found himself in the firing line of homespun wisdom from (as IGN's Stax put it) the Italian-American Fat Albert. Heaven for those of us who live and breathe the Rocky films in all their sentimental glory, but hell for those for whom the whole thing was always just too sappy.

Safe to say that Paulie will be a rather more important and more sympathetic character in the director's cut (Burt Young really does give a fantastic performance). And it's possible that Little Marie and Spider Rico will be joined by another old face from the original ROCKY, namely Andy, the owner of the Lucky Severn Tavern (hardcore Rocky geeks rejoice!). Otherwise, and assuming that the extra footage is already fully accounted for by the DVD special features, it'll simply be a marginally longer and considerably more angst-ridden film, unlikely to win any new converts or be a significant improvement on the theatrical job. I don't think we're talking a KINGDOM OF HEAVEN-style overhaul. More a LORD OF THE RINGSesque fleshing out of things for the faithful (albeit shorter than a Jackson director's cut - unfortunately).

But, yes, give ROCKY BALBOA another chance. I assume you've only seen it the once. I found it a disappointment on first viewing (but then I was watching a poor quality illegal copy on a screen the size of a cigarette packet, which is something I'll never do again, especially with a long-awaited film), but now consider it Stallone's best work apart from the original ROCKY. And in some ways it's an even greater achievement than the first one. A director's cut should retitle ROCKY BALBOA ROCKY III, since it perfectly fits a trilogy with I and II; then again, perhaps you should first force yourself to endure ROCKY V before sitting down to ROCKY BALBOA again - you wouldn't fail to appreciate it!

[DaveBond21]

A double-feature of Demons of the Mind (1972) and Fright (1971). I watched Demons last night.

[mrsbonds_ppk]

The great news for fans is that, in his commentary, Sly promises a director's cut of ROCKY BALBOA.

Did you get the new DVD for Rocky... does it have a lot of extras on it and is it worth buying?... I already have the Rocky Anthology and I might buy this new DVD.

Edited by mrsbonds_ppk, 27 May 2007 - 06:58 AM.

[Loomis]

Yes, I bought it, and, yes, I'd recommend it to Rocky fans. A pretty good haul of extras. More details here:

http://www.dvdverdic...ews/rockyce.php

I hope ROCKYS II - V will one day get sorely-needed picture/sound upgrades a la the Bond Ultimate Editions.

[mrsbonds_ppk]

Yes, I bought it, and, yes, I'd recommend it to Rocky fans. A pretty good haul of extras. More details here:

http://www.dvdverdic...ews/rockyce.php

I hope ROCKYS II - V will one day get sorely-needed picture/sound upgrades a la the Bond Ultimate Editions.

Thanks.

[Professor Dent]

The 40 Year Old Virgin Unrated Edition. I try to avoid buying movies that I already own a second time but it had a free ticket to Knocked-Up which I planned on seeing anyway. So, it only ran me about $4 after I redeem the movie ticket.

[darkpath]

My Wife is a Gangster 3

A surprising little gem of Korean cinema, with a little help from China and Taiwan, courtesy of Shu Qi.

[Harmsway]

HANNIBAL RISING: UNRATED

Well, this film is far from perfect, but it's pretty enjoyable nonetheless. Some lovely cinematography and music help the film along. And furthermore, this unrated cut, while there aren't any really major differences, is superior to the theatrical release. Gives it a more layered feel, especially in the beginning of the film. As far as the DVD extras go, they're mostly worthless.

[Qwerty]

HANNIBAL RISING: UNRATED

Me too.

[Professor Dent]

15 Minutes with Robert De Niro & Edward Burns. Great find in the cheapie bin at Best Buy.

[darkpath]

My Wife is a Gangster 3

A surprising little gem of Korean cinema, with a little help from China and Taiwan, courtesy of Shu Qi.

Ive heard of this but never seen it. Do you recommend it then? Maybe Ill get it at the weekend.

I thoroughly recommend it! I, by way of comparison, have also seen the first film in the series and the 3rd installment (the one with Shu Qi in it) is by far a better, more watchable film.

[PlayItBogart]

God, I've been away from the forums long enough to have amassed many more DVDs...I'll just stick with the ones I bought yesterday:

-Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
-Bon Cop, Bad Cop
-The Marine

[DaveBond21]

John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)

[Safari Suit]

2 for

[Qwerty]

Lost in Translation.

[Double-Oh-Zero]

The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (Series One and Two Plus Special)