For some reason, I’m now consistently finding more
time on Saturdays than on Sundays to get this column
ready. Enjoy the offerings for November 30; there
aren’t too many of them, but they’re good ones.
First, the genre releases:
- Daredevil:
Director’s Cut: This edition is half an hour
longer than the
theatrical cut. Hopefully, the extra footage fills
out some of the
details that should have been there in the first
place. - The
Fantastic
Films of Ray Harryhausen: A collection of some
stop motion
classics. - Hero:
An
absolutely gorgeous film. Well worth picking
up. - Lost
in Space
Season 2, Vol. 2: This series was split through
the seasons to
lower the price point on releases in hopes of getting
more stores to
stock it. Sales of season one weren’t as high as
anticipated. - Mobile
Suit
Gundam Zeta Limited Boxed Set: The complete
series, plus
collectables. - Tru
Calling –
The Complete First Season: Eliza Dushku’s series
had a complete
first season, which was longer than I expected, given
the time slot it
was given.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- Northern
Exposure: The Complete Second Season: Much like
the Evil Dead:
Necronomicon Edition, the packaging looks great
in the store, but
doesn’t really fit on a shelf.
Yes, that’s really it. I think most DVD
manufacturers looked at the
predicted sales for the pick of the week and decided
they’d be better
off releasing products in December, to be prominently
displayed as new
releases when the Christmas shopping starts.
Finally, the entirely predictable pick of the week.
Spider-Man
2 is out on DVD, just in time for Christmas.
You can choose from
four editions: there’s the butchered
version, the widescreen
version, the Superbit
edition,
and the deluxe
gift set, a four disk collection including a
reprint of
Amazing Spider-Man #50, an art portfolio of
over 25 different
artists, postcards of the movie posters, and more. I
bought the
corresponding gift box for the first
Spider-Man (because it
was cheaper than buying the widescreen edition and
Stan Lee’s
Monsters, Mutants and Marvels individually) and
was quite happy
with it. This time, I want to give the Superbit
edition a try.
Hero? Bah!
When I saw this movie, it left a bad taste after i got done watching it because
it turned out to be a communist chinese propaganda movie aimed at Taiwan
Spoilers below:
The basic premise of the movie is that it is all right for a ruler to be an evil
dictator, as long as he fulfills the (glorious) promise of a united China.
The "Hero" had a chance to kill this ruthless dictator, but decided that the
emporer’s dream of a united china was more important than anything else,
including the hero’s life, and the lives of those he swore to avenge.
Apart from the propaganda aspect of the movie, I found the movie a little
slow, and mostly uninteresting as well. It just felt like a looong movie after I
got done watching it.
Some parts of the movie where beautifully shot, I especially thought its use of
color was interesting (I understand that the colors chosen for specific scenes
actually where important from a chinese cultural perspective. Look at the
trivia section of the IMDB link for more details).
Re: Hero? Bah!
Well, you completely missed the point (though it does serve that propaganda function, I dare you to name a big hollywood action movie that isn’t propaganda for the U.S.).
Keeping the spoiler shield even though the ads totally give it away (marketing drones should all be choked with the blood of lawyers):
You missed the part in the beginning where it is explained that the 6 (IIRC) kingdoms are in a perpetual state of war. The point was that the emperor was a bigger killer than any of the other five, but once he beats them, its over, and all of china will live in peace.
Same as the Pax Romana, but with an obsession with calligraphy.
So the question was “what is more heroic: stopping one big war with a murder, of stopping hundreds of wars with one big one?”. Sure, it’s upsetting that the movie doesn’t have a black and white battle of good versus evil, but things aren’t always black and white, sometimes there’s gray, sometimes there’s colours…
Re: Hero? Bah!
Oh, and I forgot: Dude, that is soooooo 20th century, they ain’t communists no more!
Language
Is Hero in Chinese and subtitled in English?
Re: Language
It was in theatres. The language options for the DVD
release list English and Spanish subtitles with Mandarin,
English, and French audio tracks.