Blu-Ray Review Round-up: Early Summer - Part 2
Continuing our watch-a-thon of home entertainment for your sleep-over, movie nite with pals etc., we’ve checked out three more diverse films; a murder thriller starring “Gossip Girl” Leighton Meester, “Friday Night Light’s” Minka Kelly and Twilight’s Cam Gigandet, a re-mastered in high-def sci-fi classic and a recent action/sci-fi/battle flick!
From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
The Roommate – Blu-Ray edition
College freshman Sara (Minka Kelly) finds out that her roommate Rebecca (Leighton Meester) has some serious obsession probs when she turns dangerously against Sara and new boyfriend Stephen (Cam Gigandet).
Special Features: “Obsession: The Making of The Roommate” tells you about each character, their relationships etc. Standard piece. “The Roommate: The Next Generation of Stars” gives you more with the hot cast, how they researched their roles and fit them well, etc. Good if you are fans of Minka, Leighton, Cam and Aly Michalka.
In “Dressing Dangerously” you get a pretty detailed look at the girls’ clothing in the movie and how it fits each character’s personality and changes as they change. Kind of interesting. “Deleted and Alternate Scenes” are partials, a different opening and some extended stalking scenes. Okay to look through once.
“Audio Commentary” with Danish director Christian E. Christiansen is actually interesting and pretty detailed. This includes his struggles with the PG-13 rating to where to shoot in L.A., a different ending that he liked and didn’t get to use. Might want to fast-forward to key scenes since there are some gaps where nothing is said. Where are the hot cast members’ comments on this!!?
Wrapping Up: The Roommate is very much like the classic roomie terrorfest Single White Female and you can easily guess what will happen but it is fun to see Minka and Leighton especially, in very different roles. Worth a rental for you and your BFF’s especially if you like the young cast members and stalker films.
Battle: Los Angeles – Blu-Ray Edition
This recent movie isn’t so much about an invasion of Earth by aliens as it is a really good war movie with some cool aliens as the enemy shot in a kind of “you are there” documentary style. We are on the ground with a platoon of Marines, plus a kick butt Air Force chick in the person of Michelle Rodriguez, who try to save L.A. from an invading alien force after our water and bent on totally wiping us out with their high tech weaponry.
Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) is called back into duty after his platoon was killed in Afghanistan. His new platoon is out to rescue some civilians (Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena among them) from a Santa Monica police station surrounded by alien invaders. Also, with the aid of communications tech Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez), they plan to search out and destroy the enemy command center thus stopping the alien drone machinery in its tracks and turning the tide of the war for the human race.
Special Features: "Behind the Battle" includes practically the whole cast talking about how real and scary and hard it was to shoot the movie. Interesting. "Directing the Battle" features director Jonathan Liebesman talking about how he made his own cool demo reel to show producers why he was right for the movie. Really good lesson for teens who want to grow up and make movies!!!
"Aliens in L.A." concentrates on the design for “different” aliens then building them and the cast interacting with them. Actually very cool with a lot of behind the scenes clips. Loved it.
"Preparing for Battle" – mostly includes the cast talking about how dedicated they were to doing their own stunts and enduring what real Marines might on this kind of mission. Continuing with this is "Boot Camp" showing the actors actually going through pre-production Marine training. I really enjoyed Michelle talking about how she had to stay in a hotel and not camp out with the guys because her character was Air Force and not a Marine. Plus, she hates running. Fun to watch.
"Creating L.A. in LA" goes through how filmmakers shot Santa Monica in Louisiana! Add a few palm trees and they did a great job faking L.A. "The Freeway Battle" shows how one of the major scenes in the movie was shot; with green screen and on site with the cast and crew running and jumping all over rubble etc. Also fun to watch.
Wrapping Up: We get the idea that both cast and crew worked their butts off making this action film but had a blast as well. The movie is very fast-paced, involving and well worth adding to your Blu-Ray collection whether you are into war movies or humans vs. aliens. It is definitely worth the rental if not a buy.
From 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
The Terminator: Blu-Ray “Book” Update
This is the one that started it all. It’s 2029 and high tech machines have all but exterminated the human race. From this hell, two “beings” time travel back to 1984. One is a cyborg (man/machine played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) set on killing a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and the other a human freedom fighter named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) sent back to protect her. Seems that Sarah, now a mild-mannered waitress, is destined to one day make a huge contribution to the survival of mankind.
Special Features: This version of the film was originally re-mastererd to Blu-Ray in 2006. This is the new 25 page “book” format that includes a fun book with handy backstory and making-of info.
Featurettes and interviews are either from 2006 or the originals from the 1980’s. You get: “Terminator: A Retrospective” with Arnold and Jim Cameron talking about shooting the movie. This is really fun. The 7 “Deleted Scenes” actually contain some interesting character developments and are worth watching. The making of featurette “Creating The Terminator: Visual Effects & Music” is a nice breakdown with effects guys and composer taking you over how they did it way back in the ‘80’s.
Wrapping Up: If you are stuck with an old video tape or a pre-high def version of this great landmark sci-fi film then this well-mastered Blu-Ray “book” version is an excellent addition to your collection! If you have only seen this film all chopped-up on TV, then this is the best version out right now to at least rent. Way worth it!! The story centers on the characters and their struggles. The impressive effects that mostly still hold up today, only support that.
