Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)

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

A Great Release From Echo Bridge. Worth the $9.

I picked this up from Best Buy the other day and was happy to finally own this title on Blu-ray. The film is a parody of numerous "Hood" type films like "Friday", "Boyz N the Hood", etc. The main film of parody in question is "Boyz N the Hood". I think Shawn and Marlon Wayans give great performances and the film is an enjoyable comedy all around. The film scores a 4/5 in my book.

The video is from a dated source and is also a 1080i presentation. There's specs and print damage here and there and at times it feels a little flat. Considering the film is fifteen years old, it looks great; 3.5/5. I award the audio presentation a 4/5 as Echo Bridge has given us a nice English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. For extras, we have a deleted scene and two behind the scenes segments as well as a music video for the film. The extras aren't that long in length, but they are at least worth a watch; extra's get a 3.5/5.

Overall, this is one of Echo Bridge's best Miramax Blu-ray releases to date; it's miles above "The Crow: City of Angels" and "Supercop" in terms of visual, audio, and extras. It is worth the $8 + tax that I spent at Best Buy. I highly recommend this title if you love comedies. I give this Blu-ray a 4/5.

2012: Doomsday (2008) / Countdown: Armageddon (2009) / Mega Fault (2009)

Movie: 1/5
Video: 2/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 1.5/5

A Laughly Horrible Triple Feature From The Asylum.

*Reposting due to miscalculation of Overall Score*

This triple feature by The Asylum, distributed by Echo Bridge, contains three films on two BD25 discs with the first disc containing 2012: Doomsday and Countdown: Armageddon with the second disc containing the third and final film Mega Fault.

2012: Doomsday
Movie: 1/5
Video: 2.5/5
Audio: 3/5

The Asylum goes religious! The created the sub-studio Faith Films to cater to the religious themed films, hence we have the film about the biblical rapture mixed with the Mayan culture in this horrible "so bad, it's good" film. This film feels like it's about four years too late for The Asylum to cash in on Roland Emmerich's "The Day After Tomorrow". The film takes place in Mexico where a young woman helps a village and in LA where a paramedic has a spiritual awareness. After a man dies in the street, the paramedic's mother goes on a religious rant about the final days. Then all of the sudden people start vanishing due to the rapture. It gets confusing and hilarious at the same time by the acting. People can't deliver lines to save their lives in this disaster-piece. 1/5.

The video is really average. Presented in 1.78:1, there's a good amount of grain but at times it looks like there's been DNR applied to scenes. It's really an odd transfer. The video scores a 2.5/5. The only audio track is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. It sounds ok but at times comes across a little weak. The audio scores 3/5.

Countdown: Armageddon aka Countdown: Jerusalem
Movie: .5/5
Video: 2.5/5
Audio: 3/5

Another one of The Asylum's Faith Films productions. This movie drove me to tears. This movie is so boring it's not even funny. The movie is another biblical rapture mumbojumbo where a woman's daughter has vanished or "raptured" in LA. She is then looking for her husband who she believes kidnapped their daughter and has taken her to Israel. Then once in Israel, all hell breaks loose with local politics and the country becomes a war zone. The woman is racing against time to find her daughter. This movie has one of the worst endings that I have ever seen. It tries to be artistic but you know what happened it and it's pointless that they've tacked on that ending. It's sloppy.

The video presentation is another average to poor presentation like "2012: Doomsday". Presented in 1.78:1, the video scores a 2.5/5. The audio is only an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track, scores a 3/5.

Megafault
Movie: 2/5
Video: 1.5/5
Audio: 3/5

One of Brittany Murphy's last features was "Megafault", in this film you can tell she has lost a lot of weight and it's sad to see her go. The film is ok, it kept me more interested than the other two films in the set. In it, a giant earthquake triggers a global catastrophe. Best movie in the set, but not saying much.

The video is really poor. 1.5/5 because some scenes look okay and then others just look downright horrible. Especially in the opening of the film and it's just like, there's big aliases around Brittany. The audio is good, again like the other two Dolby Digital 2.0 - 3/5.

Overall:
Movie: 1+.5+2 = 3.5/3 = 1.25 which I'll round down to 1/5.
Video: 2.5+2.5+1.5 = 6.5/3 = 2.17 which I'll round to 2/5.
Audio: 3+3+3= 9/3 = 3/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 1+2+3+0= 6/4 = 1.5/5.

The Day the Earth Stopped / War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)

Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 2.5/5

A "C. Thomas Howell" Double Feature.

The Asylum gave C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher) full reign for a while at directing and starring in a few movies. The double feature on this disc contains "War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave" and "The Day the Earth Stopped", both directed and starring Howell. In "WotW2:TNW", the aliens return for a final fight and C. Thomas Howell's character is forced to take the aliens head on when his son abducted by the aliens. Howell's character and an ex-soldier played Christopher Reid of "House Party" fame, find themselves in an abandoned city trying to figure out how to stop the aliens. In "TDTES", Howell's character is a soldier who is forced to endure a woman from another world when she tells them that the world will end unless he can prove that humanity has a purpose.

"War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave"
Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5

The movie was entertaining and I fell it is better than the original film that The Asylum made in 2005. It looks and feels like it has a smaller budget compared to the first film in 2005. One of my biggest problems is the "actress" who pops up in almost all of The Asylum films, Kim Little. She plays a scientist who is supposedly "southern". Her accent is atrocious on every level. It is cringe worthy every time she speaks. And the thing is, she breaks the accents on several occasions and they used these takes as opposed to doing another take. I guess The Asylum wanted to cheese it up on purpose. I think Howell and Reid carried film pretty well, and if you've seen the film, you can tell that time hasn't been pleasant to Reid. Also, to anyone who noticed, the house that Howell's character lives in is also the same house that was used in "I Am Omega"; I give the 3/5.

The video presentation is pretty good overall, there's grain present and some digital altering in post-production that kills the grain levels. It seems that The Asylum does this all the time because I've noticed this on all of the films that they've done that have gotten Blu-ray releases, even the German "Transmorphers" release. Video gets a 3/5.

The only audio track on the disc is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. It is average at best, in some spots it sounds weak, but in other spots, it sounds good. The added in ADR really stands out in several scenes which bothers me a bit. The audio scores 3/5.

"The Day the Earth Stopped"
Movie: 2.5/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5

"The Day the Earth Stopped" is lesser of both films on this release. The movie drags in a lot of scenes and is also laughable in some spots for how bad the film is. I think this also the first time that The Asylum threw in nudity in the film from the lead actress who plays "Sky". Also, for an alien, she sure has a nice outline of a bikini; didn't anyone on the production team think that they should have covered that up with make up? The movie scores a 2.5/5.

The video, is like all the other titles I've seen from The Asylum; there will be a nice level of grain and then some digital effect will kill the grain. It's just like all the other video PQ from all the other movies. It gets a 3/5. The audio, again, English Dolby Digital 2.0. It too scores a 3/5.

Overall:
Movie: 3+2.5 = 5.5/10 = 2.75 which I'll round to a 3/5.
Video: 3+3 = 6/10 = 3/5
Audio: 3+3 = 6/10 = 3/5
Extras: 0+0 = 0/5
Overall: 3+3+3+0 = 9/4 = 2.25 which I'll round to 2.5/5.

Haunting of Winchester House (2009) / I Am Omega (2007)

Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 2.5/5

A Decent Double Feature.

I knew what I was getting myself into with "I Am Omega". I owned the Thai Region 3 DVD of the film and decided to upgrade it to the glorious Blu-ray format. However, I didn't know what I was getting myself into with "The Haunting of Winchester House", I only knew that it was a cash in on "The Haunting in Connecticut". I was fairly pleased with it, but it was far too predictable. Let us break down each film individually:

"The Haunting of Winchester House"
Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5

The movie starts off with a family being paid to watch the Winchester Mansion for a few months (a la "The Shining"). Once they move into the house, strange things start to occur and their daughter goes missing. Soon, vengeful spirits make their presence known and the family now fight to their souls and to find their daughter. The movie is entertaining, I wasn't bored to death with it like I was with The Asylum's "Countdown: Armageddon". It was really predictable on how it would end. I could see it from a mile away. It's gets a sold 3/5.

The video presentation is really good considering that the film only takes up almost 10 GB of space on the disc. There's a nice amount of grain present on the video. However, some scenes look over saturated, either too much lighting or done in post production in some of the daylight scenes. 3/5 for the video. The audio is just a tad bit above average for a mere Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The audio gets a 3/5.

"I Am Omega"
Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5

The Asylum's cash in on "I Am Legend". I feel "I Am Omega" is more interesting, mainly because of the star of the film is; Mark Decascos of "Le Pacte Des Loups" and the television series "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven". Decascos is the supposed last man on Earth after a plague has turned everyone into zombies. However one night, he receives a video call from a woman in the city he's trying to blow up. After he gets the call, two men from a colony show up and force him to track down the girl to save humanity, or so it seems. The movie could be better, but for a fairly low budget, it's pretty good. 3/5.

The video starts off rough, again, with the lighting. I think this time it's post-production adding of contrast and brightness. After the first five minutes, when we first see Mark on screen, the video has a nice level of grain present pretty much throughout the film. It's not the greatest video presentation, but it does well; 3/5. The audio, again is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track, 3/5.

Overall:
Movie: 3+3 = 6/10 = 3/5
Video: 3+3 = 6/10 = 3/5
Audio: 3+3 = 6/10 = 3/5
Overall: 3+3+3 = 9/4 = 2.25 = I'll round up to a 2.5/5.

Supercop (1992)

Movie: 5/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 1/5
Overall: 3/5

Supercop...

Supercop was one of my favorite Jackie Chan films growing up in the mid-90's. I remember seeing it for the first time at the now closed Kam Drive In Theater in Hawaii in 1996. And this was the second Jackie Chan film I had seen at the time, the first being Rumble in the Bronx. In Supercop, Jackie Chan's character goes undercover and breaks a conman out of prison and ends up getting caught up international drug trafficking and other various crimes. I give the film a 5/5 because it's one of the first Jackie Chan films I've seen.

The video is problematic, it is cropped from 2.39 to 1.78. That alone hurts the score, but I find the transfer very vibrant and detailed. There's a level of grain that's present and it's overall satisfying despite being cropped from scope to matted widescreen. The video gets a 3/5.

The only audio option is the English dub in DTS-HD MA 2.0. I give it a 3/5 but I find it very disappointing that the original Chinese audio is not present on the disc what-so-ever. That's a bummer to me. The only extra feature on the disc is an interview with Michelle Yeoh who is incorrectly listed as Michelle Khan. The extra gets a 1/5.

The overall is a 12/4 = 3/5. I would only recommend this release if you can get it for about $8. I am planning on picking up the Kam & Ronson releases of the Police Story trilogy to complete my collection. If you want the film in OAR and with the original Chinese audio with English subs, pick up the Hong Kong release of the film.

Another Stakeout (1993)

Movie: 3/5
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 3/5

The First of Many Touchstone/Mill Creek Releases...

Another Stakeout is one of the many licensed out Touchstone releases that Disney handed over to Mill Creek to distribute. Considering the age of the films in question, they have received a very low, affordable price tag of $5. Another Stakeout, while not as great as the first film, it does have some entertainment value to it. I am left scratching my head as to why Mill Creek decided to release the second film and not the first right off the bat; maybe they didn't get the distribution rights from Disney? Anyway, back to the film, I give it a 3/5. It's got it moments, but not as great as the first outing with just Estevez and Dreyfuss.

The video is very nice for a movie that's pushing towards twenty. However, it seems like this is a dated master. But, we're not talking plagued with problems or anything like that. From a distance, it's not that bad at all really. The video presentation is the best one out of the four Touchstone/Mill Creek titles I currently own which popped up at Target about a month and a half ago. The video get's a cool 4/5.

The sound is very nice for a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. It's incorrectly stated on the cover that it's a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. That does sound kinda scary for the only audio option, but thankfully it was wrongfully stated. The audio sounds great for a DTS-HD MA track, but I don't think it meets its full potential in the end. I feel that the audio deserves a 4/5.

There are sadly no bonus materials at all on the disc; 0/4. And that gives us 2.75/5 which I feel comes to 3/5. If there was any bonus material at all, it would help somewhat. It's pretty easy to find for $5 and I'd recommend it for that price.

The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

Movie: 4/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 2.5/5

The Crow: City of Angels.

The Crow: City of Angels is the first in three sequels to the Brandon Lee epic from 1994. Well, the storyline is somewhat similar to the original; guy with girlfriend, or in our case with the sequel it's a child, dies and one year later; his soul is brought back from the dead to exact revenge on the druggies who caused their demise. I find the first two films in the series to be enjoyable. Sure, the sequel is very flawed, but enjoyable.

Now, let's get started on the video presentation. The source is from a very outdated master of the film; probably ten years old or at the most fifteen years old. Dirt and debris and scratches pop up constantly, but I think the video is decent yet a little below average. At most it's a 2.5 to 3 and I think to be fair, it deserves a 3/5.

The audio is a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track which sounds ok, but I've heard better. It too scores a 3/5. And there's zero extras what-so-ever. And this gives us an overall 2.5/5 for this release. It's a shame that there's no extras, but I am sure Miramax's new owners and Echo Bridge are out to make a quick buck on these titles and to be honest, I do intend on picking up several.