Star Trek The Next Generation (Blu Ray) Review...

There was a baseball card set back in the mid 90s that claimed there were never original film reels for Star Trek: The Next Generation TV show that existed. Boy that couldn't have been farther from the truth, and truth be told this show now officially looks like it was shot yesterday.

CBS studios decided to invest in having a production team go back to a vault, buried somewhere in Pennsylvania, and dig up every single 35mm film reel that was shot for every episode of the entire series. So far, a season 1 remastered set in glorious HD has been released. Words can't describe how much this show pops to life now. I really can't give justice to all the painstaking work that has gone through to bring this show to high definition life for the first time, you'll just have to take my word for it. There are so many nuances you'll discover for the first time watching it in this format if you were a fan of the show previously. Subtle variables such as the different costumes characters wore that now look supremely bright and colorful, or the accessories that were worn that now just seem to stand out like never before.

There's one particular example, in the disc 1, season 1 episode, Code of Honor, where a guard standing next to Captain Picard clearly has something wrong with his right eye. This was obviously on purpose to hint that these guards get into fights all the time, however there's no way in hell anyone watching the show in standard definition ever would have noticed this before. It's simply that crystal clear. Add to it, the sound has been remastered into 7.1 DTS sound, which is quite remarkable considering this show use to air on TV with a standard two channel audio track. The opening theme has never sounded better thanks to the sound tweaking.

If you're a fan of this series, pick up this set. If you're a new fan of Star Trek in general and want a PROPER introduction to this classic TV show, do yourself a favor and only watch it in this format. It's almost criminal how faded, and bland the original aired versions of this series looked by being converted from film to VHS tape. I do realize a lot of fans hated season 1 of this series, and I can partially see why, but at the same time this season had a certain sense of zaniness and fun the later seasons just never had. That's obviously because the shows writers didn't have a grasp on how to write the main characters consistently and seemed to be trying very hard to emulate the feel of the original series. In the end, it's still worth the trip down memory lane because of the fact it feels like it was filmed on the Paramount lot this year.

 If there was ever an example of why Blu-ray is worth the upgrade for most films and TV shows, this is it. When proper time and money is invested in remastering an old film or in this case a now 25 year old television show, the results are beyond the realm of thought. Besides, now you get to see Capt. Picard's bald head in high-def, ya just can't beat that! Nuff said:)

The Dark Knight Rises: One of the better superhero films made (not quite the best)

 I'll admit, from the trailers, I thought this was going to just be another Christopher Nolan film that made me leave the theater depressed. Boy I was more than wrong. It was a fantastic film, and hit all the right notes, at the right times from beginning to end.

I'm not going to get too deep into the plot, except that after 8 years in hiding, Bruce Wayne has good reason to return to fight crime in Gotham. The villain Bain, played superbly by Tom Hardy, who has a connection to the League of Shadows from the first film in this series, Batman Begins, emerges with plenty of men to carry out plan to leave Gotham City in ashes. Annie Hathaway, dazzles as Catwoman/Selina Kyle and manages to have great screen presence in every scene she's in. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a Gotham City cop named Blake, and also creates a very believable character from beginning to end. Overall, the acting is top notch from everyone involved, and this film has many surprises that will make fans of this series smile from ear to ear.

There's one particular scene that pretty much cemented the greatness of this film for me and paid a true homage to the old TV series. I'm not sure if anyone else saw it this way, but I know I did. Towards the climax of the movie, when you see Bain going toe to toe with Batman, in the city streets, amidst hundreds of other cops and Bain's men fighting, it truly captured what Batman and previous incarnations meant to me: Fun "zop, bam, pow" action. Seeing Bain and Batman exchange blow after blow could only make me think of the 60's TV show, as campy as it was, when Batman and Robin would go hand to hand against villain after villain. It just worked, along with everything else that worked so effortlessly in the film.

This review is not giving this film due justice. There's too many layers to absorb to be able to lay out and truly explain to you why this movie is LITERALLY bat-crap crazy good! I had more reservations about this film than probably any film I've ever waited to see in my lifetime, and everyone of them was eroded from the opening sequence. The vibe that Christopher Nolan created as a director stayed consistent throughout the entire movie. It was 2 hours and 45 minutes long and yet it felt like it was no more than 2 hours long. You will not check your watch in this movie.

Lastly, I think it's safe to say, this entry finally ended the curse of "3rd" films in comic book franchise films being really bad. However,  my personal favorite out of this series is still the first one, Batman Begins. There was just something about that journey, seeing Bruce Wayne become Batman that not only worked but had replay value to it. Nuff said.

Retro Review: Commando (1985)

 
I'm going to make this review straight and to the point: This is the most entertaining 80's action flick I've ever seen before. Somehow, someway I'd never seen it until I reached my current age of 31, and yet it was a wildly popular Arnold Schwarzenegger film at the time of its release in the mid-80s.

The plot is as simple as you're going to get for an action film. A group of South American criminals decide to get back at Arnie's main character, Matrix, a former Black Ops commando, for all the problems he caused them when he was still in the military, by kidnapping his beloved daughter, played by a very young Alyssa Milano. Matrix is not the type of man you want to piss off, so in turn, you proceed to see him kill as many bad guys as possible en route to hunting down the main villains of the film, played by Vernon Wells and Dan Hedeya. The action scenes are extremely well done, and very easy to follow on the screen, back in an era where action didn't have to be choreographed at an above rapid pace. Add to it, the flow and pace of the film just takes off and never really lets up. Even though there is a central female lead in the film, a flight attendant turned rogue pilot, played by the gorgeous Rae Dawn Chong, there's never that typical love scene that usually gets stuck in the middle of the film between Arnie's character and hers. It's purely business between the two.

Now make no mistake, this is a very unrealistic film, but since it almost feels like it's an over the top, tour de force of comic book style action, it allows your brain to let go and not nitpick the lack of realism. This film is from an era where people used to go to the movies to purely "escape" for 2 hours, and be sucked into a completely different world where the rules aren't the same as our reality. Another thing of importance, is that even though there is some brutal violence in this picture, it's almost as if the catchy "comic relief" one liners delivered so appropriately by Schwarzenegger, allow the violence to never be absorbed with too much shock value. It brings a necessary balance to the tone of the picture, and keeping a good sense of fun amidst the cart Blanche chaos we see on screen. Lastly, the James Horner, bohemian drum soundtrack just works for this type of film. It fits the setting, and the action to a tee, and never relents just as the action in the film never seems to let up either.

So take a trip down memory lane with this 80s extravaganza of over the top action, fun, and bloated testosterone. You won't regret it!

The Amazing Spiderman: Not too far from Amazing...

I went into this film with lowered expectations, mainly because I wasn't so sure a film that reboots a series that had its last film released as recently as 2007, could be that well made. Then again, I'll admit, I was never blown away by any of the Tobey Maguire Spiderman film entries. Sure, Spiderman 2 was a well made comic book film, but the overall nagging complaint I had about those entries was how much Peter Parker worshipped Mary Jane. It was overkill, and in reverse, how much Mary Jane allowed Parker to worship her. It ruined any sincerity those films could have had because they didn't create a love story on equal footing. It was a stereotypical, one-sided affair, and I think it sends the wrong message to young girls and guys in general.

Fast forward to The Amazing Spiderman and that's one key area they knocked out of the park. Spiderman/Peter Parker, played so well by Andrew Garfield, is certainly smitten by his classmate Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. However, it's not a case of him having to chase her, or beg for her attention. Gwen develops an eye for him even before he becomes Spiderman, observing his bravery at school when he refuses to let another classmate get picked on; and takes a beating for it in return. Additionally, Gwen is a self-sufficient, science loving, intelligent woman in this film, versus the sometimes smug attitude of the Mary Jane character in the previous films. The dynamic between Garfield's Spiderman and Stone's Gwen Stacy character just works, and never drags the film down with it. It's a 50/50 admiration for the two, and I hope more films like this approach it the same way in the future. Additionally, Garfield's interpretation of Peter Parker is vastly superior to Tobey Maguire's in my opinion. Maguire came off as almost too nerdy, and way too depressed over moments when things weren't working out with Mary Jane. Whereas Garfield adds multiple layers to his character, displaying not just a small nerdy side, but a socially awkward side as well that projects much more than what was seen in the original three films.

The rest of the film is built around Peter Parker learning about what it means to be responsible, and to take responsibility for his actions as a superhero. His Uncle Ben, played so convincingly by Martin sheen, really walks the walk by showing Parker what it means to help others and be a man when he tries to stop a thief from getting away on the streets of NYC. This was a defining moment in the picture when Parker understands he can't just be running around as Spiderman in an irresponsible way, and that he needs to temper his energy and sometimes immature attitude. Later in the film, when he has to save people from near death on a bridge, thanks to the transformed Dr. Curt Connors Lizard character reaking havoc, it's saving one child in particular from a car that's hanging from the bridge and on fire that cements Peter Parker as Spiderman. Not only is he firmly cemented as a superhero, but he gains an important ally out of saving the child that will help him later on in the film.

Special mention for Dennis Leary and his portrayal of Captain Stacy,  he does a nice job making you believe he really is a police chief of such a big city. I think the only disappointing performance for my money is the main villain, played by Rhys Ifans. It just seemed somewhat dull for me. Obviously the action scenes where his character is fighting with Spiderman as the Lizard are well done, and thought out, but overall Ifan's portrayal doesn't command a lot of attention in my book as a top notch villain the same way some previous comic book film bad guys have. Put it this way, you're not going to go home and quote any of his lines from the film like you may have with The Joker, General Zod, The Penguin, or even Obehdiah Stane from Iron Man. That's really my only gripe with the picture, and it's not enough to detract from how impressed overall I was with the story and execution of this film. I know some comic book purists may be upset they redid the origin story again, but I could care less. This is a comic book film and as far as I'm concerned it should be allowed to have many different interpretations of how a superhero came into harnessing such great powers.

Go see this movie, I have a feeling it'll be the only comic book film through the summer months (not counting The Avengers) that will be worth a hill of beans. The Dark Knight Rises, judging from trailers, looks more like a depressing episode of Law and Order than an actual bright, colorful, comic book film. Time will tell though. Nuff said.