Django Unchained (2012) - Target Exclusive

Movie: 5/5
Video: 4/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

"And this is my horse, Fritz!"

While Django Unchained was in its theatrical run, I had the chance to see it twice; release day on Christmas and a few hours after the premiere of my first feature film. I remember on the release day, I left an hour before the first showing and I was stuck in a line and was in that line for ninety minutes and it was at the point where I had to catch the second showing. And I was the third person in a long line for the second showing as I arrived forty-five minutes before it started, to get concessions and such. After being one of the first people sitting down, a large obesse man with his wife sits right next to me in an open theater and says; "Hey, hon! Let's sit next to him! He's got a large bucket of popcorn!"

I proceeded to move over a seat and the movie soon starts. When the film starts and Dr. King shoots the horse, the man proceeds to freak out and say out loud; "He shot that horse!" And his wife quietly responded to him and said; "This is a Tarantino film, honey!" It made me aware who was wearing the pants in this crappy marriage. After the film ended, it was myself and another hippy-ish couple in the theater and the lights come on. As I was the last person walking out, I can hear this guy saying; "This movie won't be playing long in the theater as it will be banned! They said the 'N' nonstop throughout the film!"

Again, the town I live in is full of rocket scientists. I don't live in Europe, not any more, where a government can actually ban films from being sold and purchased. In America, the government does not have that type of power. Despite the fact that the MPAA has nothing better to do than go after illegal downloads, I'm sure that government has better things to do, then again...

Django Unchained tells the story of a slave (Jamie Foxx) is freed by a German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz has Django help him track down and collect a bounty on three brothers who helped Django get sold off. After the task is said and done; Schultz learns from Django about his wife, Broomhilde, (Kerry Washington) who was sold off at the same time and that Django wants to find and free her. Schultz and Django learn that his wife was sold to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is a sinister slave owner.

I place Django Unchained in my top three Tarantino directed films, next to Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds. He managed to capture this look of what the late 1850's looked like before the Civil War. However, I do think that the you could have named the title character anything else and it would still be as good. I'm sure most are aware that Django was a lone gunslinger played by Franco Nero (who cameos in the film) the 1966 film, Django.

Samuel L. Jackson plays a despicable villain in this film and terrorizes Kerry Washington again, previously in the 2008 film Lakeview Terrace. I think all of the actors shine in this film. Waltz does another great job, this time playing a protagonist in this film. Jamie Foxx as Django also gives appeal and humor to his character whenever Django is interacting with Broomhilde towards the final moments of the film. I give the film a 5/5.

Video: 4/5

Presented in 2.35:1 and in 1080p, Anchor Bay gives the film the best look it can get. Since the film is pushing three hours and does have a few bonus materials, I think that the transfer could be better as it seems to hang around the low 20's in the Mpbs acording to my PS3. Despite that, it's solid, as we have the overall feel of the theatrical presentations I had seen. Grain is decent and I'm sure it could have been stronger. I give the video presentation a 4/5.

Audio: 5/5

Anchor Bay gives the film a nice DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track. We also have the film presented with French and Spanish dub tracks for the feature. The English audio is very nice as we hear sound effects with zoom ins, like when we first see Candie's face and Tarantino has the tight zoom in for the reveal. I think this audio track really helps the experience as you are immersed with Tarantino's vision for this film. I give the audio presentation a 5/5.

Extras: 5/5

While the Blu-ray only has a few extras, we have an extra DVD which includes the cast at Comic-Con in 2012. On the Blu-ray, we have "Remembering J. Michael Riva", the production designer who sadly passed while working on the film. The crew and cast talk about how they were impressed with how he helped managed to capture the look the of the late 1850's. "Horse and Stunts" which talks about using horses and that Jamie Foxx actually used his own horse towards the end of the film as he rides back to Candie-land.

A look at the woman who was the costume designer who helped make all of the characters stand out and not look exactly alike. Tarantino talks about how the one who looked exactly like the sketches was Don Johnson as Big Daddy and how his look leaped from the drawings to the big screen. Promotional trailers for the Django Unchained soundtrack and the highly stupendous Tarantino XX Blu-ray boxset. Problem I have with this boxset is that they do not include From Dusk Till Dawn which is probably one of the most important films that Tarantino wrote and also starred in.

On the bonus Target exclusive DVD, we have a 50+ minute look at the cast and director Quentin Tarantino at Comic-Con 2012. I think this is an interesting bonus, but, ultimately not needed. Also, something else that is not needed with this Blu-ray is a DVD copy, and iTunes and Ultraviolet Digital Copies of the film. I give the bonus features a 5/5.

Overall: 5/5

I'm not a fan of exclusives. Virtually all of the big retail chains, Best Buy; Target; and Wal-Mart had exclusives for this film. These exclusives and combo packs, especially the combo packs are a big waste of production time and money! I loved the film, but DVDs and Digital Copies are a big waste of time for me as a consumer. If you're a fan of Tarantino's work, this will no doubt be in your collection of films. I recommend Django Unchained, despite whatever Blu-ray exclusive you buy. 5/5.

I Spit on Your Grave (1978 - 2010)

Movie: 2/5
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5

"Sleazy Fun for the Whole Family..."

Movie:

I Spit on Your Grave (1978):The original 1979 film is a classic that gives The Last House on the Left a run for it's money. Jennifer Hills is an aspiring author who takes off to the remote country side to write her first book. After meeting a few of the town folk, Jennifer goes out one day and is attacked and brutally raped and left for dead. Soon, Jennifer finds the nerve to take revenge and will make them all pay.

It seems like this was the thing back in the 1970's; with films like Last House on the Left, Trip with the Teacher, and I Spit on Your Grave. Woman. or women if this is Trip with the Teacher, get raped and go out for revenge. Because clearly the law does not exist in these type of films. My main complaint with the time length is that's about fifteen to twenty minutes too long; it clocks in at 106 minutes long. The kills are pretty good, vfx wise, but the film drags a bit. It's not that bad compared to something like A Serbian Film. I give the original I Spit on Your Grave a 3.5/5.

I Spit on Your Grave (2010): *CAUTION: SPOILERS! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!*

Whoever decided that film should be remade should hopefully never work on another feature film again. This film is downright horrible and for the fact that Meir Zarchi himself has defending this film is wrong. The acting is bad; the story, with how much has been changed from the original, is worse. Since I am sure this was low budget and I'm going to guess about $5 million, the producers couldn't get big talent like Kirsten Stewart, Jason Statham, Timothy Olyphant, Eli Roth, Giovanni Ribbisi, and Ethan Suplee to head this cast; so you know what they do? Get a bunch of look-a-likes to fill the roles!

Jennifer Hills is played by Sarah Butler who has the same dead-in-the-eyes look like Kirsten Stewart, but gives a better performance than Stewart ever could; who this time has all ready written several novels and is on a retreat to write her next book. Que in the gas station attendent not played by Timothy Olyphant; the handicapped Matthew not played by Giovanni Ribbisi; cameraman not played by Ethan Suplee; and finally not Eli Roth. But, wait, to be creative; they added a fifth rapist! Bring in Not Jason Statham as the main villain of the film!

This film wants to be better version of Saw or Hostel or A Serbian Film but fails miserably as we add in the extreme torture which was not really part of the original film. These deaths feel more Saw-like than what the original 1979 I Spit on Your Grave had to offer, because these deaths are elaborate as hell. And to give some spoilers here, I don't think having your eyes plucked out of your head by horrible CGI crows will kill you. I think Not Ethan Suplee will be ok.

Steven Monroe, much like the director of The Hitcher remake, should be ashamed for making this film. What made the original I Spit on Your Grave such a trying film is that we see the hell that Jennifer goes through. We follow her throughout the film. We don't follow these horrible look-a-like actors as they pee their pants like school kids. I found no redeeming qualities to this film and it wanted to be violent for the sake of being violent. There was no justification, spoilers here, to kidnapping Not Jason Statham's daughter. And on top of that there was no resolution to that either. Did Jennifer kill the daughter? The answer is; "This remake sucked!" .5/5.

Video:
For the original 1979, I Spit on Your Grave, the transfer is conflicting. While I praise the rich detail in the colors that has been preserved on this transfer; there is always some sort of problem to it. The video is shaking up and down for a majority of the opening of the film. It was driving me nuts to see this thing bouncing. The print damage of dirt and specs did not bother me as much as that bouncing did. There was one scene where it took place at night where there was some discoloration. If it was not for these flaws, this would have been the perfect transfer for a film that is over thirty years old. I give the video presentation a 3.5/5.

The 2010 remake of I Spit on Your Grave was shot on a Red camera. However, when they shot it, they did it at a bad frame rate. Most of the film looks like PAL video converted to NTSC. It looks badly sped up like the 2D version of My Bloody Valentine 3D in a lot of shots. Even a shot in the forest when we first see Not Jason Statham's character has this bizarre shot where everything is fuzzy. I was like; "What's with the video here?" While the detail is mostly there, this problematic frame-rate is an extreme buzz kill. I give the video a 3.5/5.

Audio:
The main audio presentation on the original film is an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. I know audio isn't my strongest field of expertise, but even after listening to this, the audio is the weakest part of the original film's presentation. Sounds, like hearing the engine to a boat sound weak and not booming at all. While hearing Jennifer scream and cry in pain sound convincing in this audio track, there seems to be no real remaster to this at all. I give the audio a 2.5/5.

Well, we have the same English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track on the 2010 remake. The detail on the audio is pretty good. No real complaints out of it. We hear shotgun blasts pretty loud and clear. Dialog sounds good. I give it a 5/5.

Extras:
For the original film, we have two commentary tracks; one by Meir Zarchi and another by Joe Bob Briggs. Both commentaries are ok. I do appreciate Joe Bob Briggs' input on this; as I grew up watching him on weekends on TNT when I was child. We also have trailers, TV spots, Meir Zarchi giving a look back on the film; a photo gallery; and an alternate title card which is for Day of the Woman. Which, you know, both titles don't really fit. But, hey. I give the original film's bonus a 3/5.

For the remake we have a commentary by the director and one of the co-producers. "Revenge of Jennifer Hills" which has Meir Zarchi and some others talking about how much they loved and crapped all over the original film with this remake. Some deleted scenes. And trailers. I give the bonus a 1.5/5. I wasn't interested in this stuff as much as I hated this remake.

Overall:
I got this on the Best Buy Upgrade and Save after taking in a DVD to get a $5 off coupon. I got this double feature Blu-ray for $5.33 after tax. On one hand, I did end up liking the original film. But, just downright hated the remake. I find it insulting that this was made and that I wasted my time on it. I give this release a 3/5. Only get it if you like the original film.

Piranha 3DD (2012)

Movie: 2.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Review is only for the 2D Blu-ray Disc.

Piranha 3DD was looked like a promising sequel to the 2010 Alexandre Aja's remake of the Joe Dante film Piranha. The cast, when it was first announced, sounded fantastic. We got David Koechner (Snakes on a Plane and Anchorman); Gary Busey; Danielle Panabaker; and David Hasselhoff. Returning from Piranha 3D, we got Ving Rhames; Paul Scheer; and Christopher Lloyd. Sounds like we got a potentially great sequel lined up, right? Well, Piranha 3DD sounds great in theory, but the execution and, mainly, the writing is sloppy. This time the film is directed by John Gulager and written by the hack duo who did Feast #1 - 3; Saw #4 - 7; and The Collector. Also, co-written by Joel Soisson who happened to run such franchises into the ground like the American version of Pulse; Wes Craven's Dracula; Mimic; Hollow Man; The Prophecy; and last but not least, Hellraiser.

While the film is not that bad as to some of the sequel to other properties that I previously mentioned; the plot is that piranhas are attacking a water park. That sounds great; going into spoilers here; only problem is that the film is 72 minutes. Piranhas attack at the one hour mark. It keeps building up to it and building up to it and then you get less than fifteen minutes of carnage. But, let me back track to the beginning of this film; it is a year after the Lake Victoria incident and everything from the end of Piranha 3D is ignored, especially that big Piranha that was the mommy or daddy that jumped out of the boat and killed Adam Scott's character. Maddy (Panabaker) comes home from college to see her step-father (Koechner) has turned their family water park into a sexed up, drugged up, and booze filled joint called "The Big Wet". We see some of Maddy's friends who are the wreck less; "We're going to have sex because it's wrong but we're going to have fun" get mostly killed off by piranha after their introductions. Except for Katrina Bowden's character who gets a piranha up the vagina. How you don't notice a piranha literally eating your vagina and innards up to shreds is beyond me.

Maddy goes to console her friend (Bowden) when piranhas attack and they have a dead one on hand and learn about Goodman (Lloyd) who helped deal with these piranha at Lake Victoria a year prior. Goodman seems more senile this time around rambling on about Youtube views and some foreshadowing. All this is going on while we are still waiting for the piranha to attack the park, which still isn't happening. Then after several events of just padding, we finally hit the one hour mark when the piranhas attack the water park. The build up to the attack on the park has a legless Deputy Fallon who supposedly lived after the fish ate him up halfway through the first film. And there's an ongoing gag where David Hasselhoff has a connection with this ginger child because the child think's he's just a lifeguard. Then at the end when we learn the piranhas can now walk on land, the fish bites the kid's head off.

While the film is pretty bad, I do give it some props in terms of visual effects. Although I wonder how many of those chewed up corpses were reused props from the Alexandre Aja film. The piranhas were mostly rubber toys that were made pretty well; whereas in the Aja film, they're mostly crappy CGI. It just makes me wonder what they could have accomplished if the water park attack happened within the first half hour and we deal with the aftermath for the rest of the film. That could have been a greater horror film right there. Movie scores a 2.5/5

Video: 4.5/5
Piranha 3DD presents the film with a great transfer that is almost perfection. However, I guess these where re-shoots or something; there's these shots that look horribly pixelated. These are mostly in the night shots and a few underwater shots that I am guessing is second unit work or is reshoots to help pad this train wreck out to 72 minutes. I wonder if someone who was working the cameras accidentally screwed up and filmed these shots in possibly SD? Video scores a 4.5/5.

Audio: 5/5
We only have 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio for the film, plus a commentary track. The audio is pretty solid. It's amazing how this average film gets almost a full five star treatment from Anchor Bay. A studio that's screwed around and not given a U.S. release of something like Demons; which I don't even care about anymore since I got the British Region B Blu-ray. Enough with the ranting, the audio is pretty sweet in terms of hearing piranhas snapping their jaws and devouring flesh and the crispness of the horrifying screams as people die. 5/5 for the audio.

Extras: 2.5/5
The film contains a commentary by the director and some of the crew. I didn't really mind it. Deleted scenes revolving around the character Big Dave who is the stoner who kept putting his "manhood" into one of the jet holes. There's a short film about tennis player John McEnroe. Gary Busey outtakes which it's always fun to see Gary. Story behind Piranha DD which is mostly cast and crew interviews. There's two segments, one is on David Koechner and Hasselhof. These extra features left me not really caring at all. 2.5/5.

Overall: 3.5/5
This sequel had so much promise and did not live up to the hype. Especially with how brutal Alexandre Aja's remake was. That film had me feeling stomach pains from how realistic the practical effects were handled. John Gulager has potential as a director and he needs to do a film sans Dunstan and Marcus writing the script. This Blu-ray release is pretty solid, except for some of the shots that look bloody horrible and the average bonus material. I can recommend this if you can get it dirt cheap, 3.5/5.

The Alphabet Killer (2008)

Movie: 1/5
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 2/5

Not Even Titties Can Save This One.

As much as I love police/detective films, this movie blew. This movie was a complete waste of time. I found myself bored and bored some more to the point where I was like; "How much longer is left?" Titties couldn't even save this movie. It's as bad as "Transmorphers: Fall of Man". The story is based around the Alphabet Killer who struck in the 1970's. Killer was never found. So, take a wild guess about a movie about a serial killer who was never caught ends? You want to watch a better detective drama, check out "Crimson Rivers".

Video looks average. That opening logo by New Films International was poor looking. I think Anchor Bay could have done a better job on the transfer, but then again, this movie blows. We have only a decent 5.1 DD track which sounds average. And zero extra features or a menu or a subtitle or anything like that.

Avoid. Overall, I give this a 2/5. Waste of time, talent, and film!

Sharktopus (2010)

Movie: 4/5
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Topus!

Ok, Roger Corman co-produced this crazy hybrid animal flick for the Sci-Fi channel (I'm not spelling it the new way) as well as Dinoshark which comes out next month on Blu-ray. I liked the movie as cheesy as it. If this was made back in the day in the 70's, I think this could have been a real classic. The story is that Sharktopus is called S-11 which is a genetic experiment made by this corporation for the navy. After this navy commander wants to see S-11 in action, the control mechanism that keeps Sharktopus under control gets damaged and S-11 soon turns into a killing machine that the navy wants back into their hands. The group goes after S-11 and he heads off to Mexico to chow down on the babes.

The film is pretty entertaining for it's non-graphic deaths. There's virtually no vulgar language in the film and the gore is pretty much non-existence except for one or two scenes. It's not rated by the MPAA, but I'd say it's more of a heavy PG-13 / light R rated film. I'd give it a 4/5 for the film. For a television movie, it's pretty entertaining and the acting is somewhat decent.

The video presentation is somewhat decent. In some scenes it looks nice and crisp and in other times it looks really soft. The animation for our title character is nicely detailed and he really stands out in all the shots he is in. I'd give it a 3.5/5. I really liked the audio, I give it a 5/5.

Extras are lacking, severely. Only a trailer and commentary by Roger and Julie Corman. For that, I'm giving it a 2.5/5. I know there has to be outtakes and deleted scenes somewhere. Disappointing that there isn't any of that.

Overall it averages out to 3.75 but I am going to round up to a 4/5. Pick it up for about $15 if you can. I bought it for $22 (after taxes) and as much as I like it, I'd have to really debate if it's worth that much. This movie is strictly for those who love these schlocky/cheesy Sci-Fi Channel movies.