HDTV Babes Vol. 1 (2011)

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

If You Live In Germany, You See This Every Night.

As stated in my review for the German release of Silent Hill, I lived in Germany for a few years. At midnight, the stations change to more adult themed material. On a channel which I forget it's name it had a program called "Sexy Fight Night" which had nothing to do with fighting and it was a woman or women stripping down and touching their bodies for several minutes in sports themed locations like a bowling alley or a tennis court, etc. These would last several minutes before going to another loop. This would go on from midnight to six in the morning in Germany.

Now, since I guess this is movie length, I'd give it a 3/5. It was ok. The women were ok. There was 8 scenes that went on for 84 minutes. Out of the eight scenes, I liked the blonde in the field in the third scene. The video ranges and I mean it's hit and miss. Some look sharp, some look soft, some look like they suffer from DNR. Even though I liked the third scene it is the worst PQ wise. It's DNR'd to the max here; video get's a 3/5

The audio is a music track that is this like type of music to relax too. Kinda like elevator music or something like that. 5/5. Extras are a picture gallery that goes on for like 20 minutes and the pictures are mostly better quality than the video. Extras get a 4/5. Even though averaged up this equals to 3.75, I'm rounding down to 3.5 Because the varying PQ is the five letter "B" word for a female dog. Wasn't bad for $15. Will get Vol. 2 sooner or later, not in a rush.

Silent Hill (2006)

Movie: 5/5
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Can't Believe It's Been Five Years...

I am a big fan of the Silent Hill games and the German dub of Silent Hill film holds a special place in my heart. I lived in Germany from 2003 and 2006 and in the final years of being a teenager was spent living in a foreign country where I learned the language as well as learning French. While living in Germany, I frequented the Kino (German for Cinema) and would watch whatever they'd be playing in English every Sunday morning at 11 am. Well, this was my last night in the country before I flew back to the United States to go back to Hawaii.

The days prior I looked up showtimes to try to kill some time before I left the country; I had never watched a movie in the Kino dubbed over in German. This was my last chance to do it and I took the opportunity. Silent Hill was playing only at 11 pm and that was my only chance to go see it. I was barely old enough to get in to see it, I was 16 and the film was rated 16. I went to the kino and bought my ticket and the employee told me in the best English he could that the film wasn't in English and I told him to sell me the ticket. In Germany you can pick where you want to sit, so I sat in the 11th row and the 9th seat.

When the film started, I saw the Universal logo and then Focus Features logo and with the Focus Features logo we hear the Silent Hill theme play, like how it does in the U.S. release with the Sony logo. And I hear the dubbing for Radha Mitchell and I understood it. My three years of learning German paid off as soon as the film started and it was one of the greatest rewards I could ever give myself. For that, with my personal experience, I give the film a 5/5 because it was a good farewell to a country that gave me so much and that the film is almost exactly like the first video game.

The video on this release by Concorde is miles above what Sony released here in the U.S. on Blu-ray. The quality is dull on the U.S. release and here it has details to it and this makes for the better experience. There's a nice level of grain present. 5/5 for the video. The audio is superb, the German dub is loud and fierce. However the English audio isn't a loud but it still does the job. The only pro about the Sony release is that PCM English audio, that was awesome; audio is 5/5.

There are no extras present on this release like the Sony Blu-ray. Which is a shame since the U.S. DVD had an hour long documentary on it. Overall, even with the extras missing on the disc, I give it a 4.5/5. It is far superior to the Sony Blu-ray in almost every way. And it's great how the German release is Region All. I paid $23 to import this and I am very happy with it.

Transmorphers (2007)

Movie: 3/5
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 2/5
Overall: 3/5

Transformers?

If anyone knows The Asylum, you know what they are into doing. This is the infamous Transformers rip off that came out the same time to cash in on unsuspecting people who thought this was "Transformers" and not "Transmorphers". The story doesn't rip off Transformers at all. It's more like a Matrix Revolutions mixed with Terminator more or less is how I can describe this movie.

The movie isn't that great but it is entertaining. For that, I'd give it a 3/5. The video presentation is all around ok, it could be better if this was presented on a BD-50. It looks a little soft, but there is grain present on the presentation. The "Transmorphers" stand out a lot more than the environment. I'd give the video a 3.5/5.

The audio tracks presented on this Blu-ray are English and German Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. And then one German 2 Ch track. The audio sounds good. The German dub tracks are tame compared to the English audio. 4.5/5. The extras are weak, there's a trailer in 4:3 SD and a behind the scenes which is horribly interlaced and OUT OF SYNC. 2/5 for the extras.

I have to give this a 3/5. It's cheesy, it's not an award winner by any means, but for about $10, it's enjoyable to watch.

Les Rivières Pourpres (2000)

Movie: 4/5
Video: 4/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Jean Reno & Vincent Cassel = Fun

EDIT: I AM CHANGING MY VOTE FOR THE VIDEO.

I've been a fan of their respected work for years. I saw Jean Reno in Leon when I was about 7 in 1996. I first Cassel as the crazed brother in Le Pacte Des Loups in 2002. I found out about this film in 2003 and got it a few months later on DVD in 2004. I thought this was a great thriller. Nadia Fares is very nice to look. I give the movie a 4/5. It's a great mystery as they keep being led in circles by the killer.

The video is sourced from the German release of the film. I believe that this is a BD25 compressed down from a BD50, all though I am not sure. It's high definition and not an upscaled SD master like some Taiwanese releases. It has good detail but it's not up to par with newer films. I give it a 4/5.

The audio tracks consist of French DTS-HD HR and a German dub in DTS-HD HR which, again, shows that the Taiwanese copy is sourced from the German release. The French audio is nice and loud. However, the German does sound a bit more tame in comparison. I give the audio a 5/5.

Extras = Nothing.

I think this is a good release and an upgrade over the US Sony DVD. I can confirm it is region all after testing it on my Insignia NS-WBRDVD2. I give this an over all 3.5/5.

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.

Ong-Bak 3 (2010)

Movie: 3.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 4/5

The Final Battle?

If you've seen Thai action films, they aren't big on plot and story and rely mainly on action to fill 90 minutes. This film is no exception. I feel the same way about the other two previous Ong Bak films. First film filled it action with this whole underground fight club with the missing head of Ong Bak. Ong Bak 2 was about a kid who grew up and wanted revenge; he was trained by pirates to become a bad ass. Ong Bak 3, well... from what I could tell, the kid learns that you need to change his ways.

The film had problems, that's for sure. Tony Jaa lost everything while filming Ong Bak 2 and became homeless because he believed in this series and it cost him dearly. The plot is not consistent; not with how the way Ong Bak 2 ended. You may think you might know what will happen in this movie, but the studio decided to take the film in a completely different direction and that leaves the viewer somewhat confused.

I think if Tony Jaa was given everything that he needed and the studio didn't interfere and bring Tony's mentor, Panna Rittikrai, into co-directing the film; we could have possibly had an epic action masterpiece. Instead we're left with these two films that are not on par with other Asian action films. At best, it's just another average Thai action exploitation film like Panna Rittikrai's Spirited Killer series.

Why do I give it a 3.5/5? I think visuals that were shown to us, like backgrounds and other set pieces really look good. Also, the scoring is pretty good. Sure, the music is re-used from Ong Bak 2, but it works with this. The film has replay value to me since I've watched the film three times all ready since I've purchased it back on Tuesday.

The video is 4.5/5. Given that it's shot with equipment that's a lot better than what's seen on other Thai films that are released on Blu-ray, the video is quite pleasing. However, the artistic changes in softness and sharpness does bring it down. But it wasn't as bad as it was in Ong Bak 2.

The audio is a solid 5/5 for me. I think both Thai and English dubbing sound great on this release. Hearing the wrapped chains around Tony Jaa's wrists in the opening fight scene clanging as he's hitting the king's warriors sounds exceptional.

Extras are weak, 2.5/5. Magnolia Pictures gave Ong Bak 2 a ton of bonus materials. This one is weak. The Digital Copy is nice. I would prefer a disc to copy it off of because doing it as a straight download takes forever in a day with my internet connection.

Overall, we come to a 3.875/5 and I'm going to round this up to a 4/5 for this release. If you like action films, I'd recommend it. It's not as good other movies out there, but then again, was Ong Bak 2 as good as other action films?

Casshern (2004)

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

If Casshern Won't Do It Then Who Will?

Ok, after trying to find a webstore that was selling this cheap, which I picked up for $19 from the Swiss site Grooves Inc. I can recommend this release to die hard fans and those who speak either Japanese or German because this Blu-ray is not English friendly and luckily for me, German is my second language, so no problem for me.

Lets get to the bad news first; this major for a lot of Blu-ray owners, this release is 1080i/50 and it clearly suffers from speed up. I believe the speed up is due to having the film sync up to the German audio. I don't know if the German studio at the time made their dub straight from a PAL sourced copy of the film or not, but that seems to be the case. However, after several viewings of the film, the speed up is not that bothersome. The film clocks in at 2hrs 16min when it's 2hrs 22 min which it even states on the back of the cover that it's the latter.

Another problem, not major, but really noticeable; the video source. The German release ported the Italian video source. And the film has opening credits completely in Italian and even blurring out the original title Casshern and placing in with plain white text "KYASHAN - LA RINASCITA". And supposedly the Italian release clocks in at the original run time. Also, the end credits of the film are in Italian and then cut over to the Japanese end credits.

Now, for all of those who love the film, this is the worst of it. The film's Japanese audio has been completely redone. Music plays when in the original cut there would be silence. Some sound effects have been completely removed from the new mix; like the zapping noise that the "Neo-Cells" would make are gone. Dialog has been changed in some spots or in others completely removed. For a brief list of changes, please visit the German thread for the film.

Now, let's talk pros to this release; the video is hands down reference quality even for a 1080i video. It is beauitful. I am not giving it a 5/5 because of the 1080i and the fact that even though it's the director's intention for the Zone 7 scenes to look all grainy, it might cause some people to think that it's bad even though it's digitally done. The colors are magnificent. I closely looked over the scene where Tetsuya aka Casshern fights all of the robots and the colors are vivid and amazing.

The audio is loud and amazing. The 5.1 DTS-HD audio for both the original Japanese language and the German dubbing are essentially equal. I listened to both and really enjoyed both options. The sound effects of Tetsuya flying around with his rockets are nice and crisp during the battle with the robots. Music is good and clear and the dialog sounds like you are right there in it all. The only reason why this gets a 4/5 is due to the speed up but after a couple of viewings you won't notice it.

The extras contain German dubbed trailers for other films like Shinobi: Heart Under Blade and Goemon to name a few. There's two original Japanese trailers for Casshern; deleted scenes with forced commentary by Kazuaki Kiriya; and interviews. It did leave me wanting more out of this release. On the 2 disc Thai DVD that I own theres like a 50 minute making of that shows how the animated the film and how it was shot on green screens, etc.

I give it 4/5 overall. It's a good release despite it's flaws. I'm a die hard fan of the film, but was bothered by the changes done in the Japanese audio. But, I recommend this to die hard fans and those who know German and Japanese.