There’s not a lot to pick from this week. You might
want to wait a little while before DVD shopping, as
things start to pick up again significantly in
October.
First, the genre releases:
- The
Brain That
Wouldn’t Die: I’ve got a real soft spot for movies
this campy. - Fire
and
Ice: A two disk set of Ralph Bakshi work. - Land
of the
Lost: Stak Attack: This is a best of collection
from the three
season series. I should review the second and third
seasons soon, I
suppose. - Lilo
and
Stitch 2: This is a direct to video sequel. - Ong-Bak
– The
Thai Warrior: I haven’t seen this, so I may have
this sorted into
the wrong category. - The
Wasp
Woman: A Roger Corman classic.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- Alfred
Hitchcock Collection: All the description reveals
is that it’s a
five movie set. With that price, I’d say it’ll be
from the British
portion of his career. - The
Bad News
Bears Triple Play: A three movie set from the
original series. - Blues
Brothers
– 25th Anniversary Edition: One of the greatest
car chases of all
time can be found right here. - Denzel
Washington Collection: Contains Fallen, The
Pelican Brief, and
Ricochet. Not the best work he’s done, but all pretty
good. - Pirates
of
Silicon Valley: This is a rather illuminating (if
disputed) look
at the early days of Apple and Microsoft. It’s a
rerelease, but it’s
worth pointing out anyway. - Sahara:
This wasn’t well reviewed by critics, and certainly
wasn’t well
advertised. - The
Shirley
Temple Collection: Curly Top, Heidi, and Little
Miss Broadway. - Tommy
Boy –
Holy Schnike Edition: I don’t care for this, but
you might.
Finally, the pick of the week. The best item in the
list of slim
pickings is Clueless
– “Whatever”
Edition: A good movie, in its second DVD release.
(The original
DVD had fewer special features than my old VHS copy!)
Sahara
Sahara was not what it could or should have been. Even as someone who never read the book I could tell there were so many details which were completely glossed over. One perfect example is when they find an airplane in the middle of the desert it was perfectly obvious who’s it was (Amelia Earhart) but they never even recognized the importance of the discovery (and Pitt is supposed to be an explorer??). I was even more disappointed when my wife explained the ending of the book and how much was removed in the movie, the sheer importance of the find would have been worth a movie in its own right. This and other story elements could have been given 30 seconds of screen time and added so much more depth to the story and characters, instead we end up with a half-assed Indiana Jones wannabe.<br />
<br />
Damien
Re: Sahara
Definitely a very bad movie. National Treasure was better but not by much.
Offtopic: B42 not parsing html strict makes me sad :P
Re: Sahara
Just a reason to remember why we should always use the preview button…
Re: Sahara
Not having read the book, I enjoyed the movie (up until the ending where I really had to suspend my disbelief). I can believe the book handled it much better.
Agree with octa that National Treasure was better, but explain to me again how 200-year old ropes can bear the weight of a primitive elevator, while the boards and beams they’re holding fall apart from age?
Re: Sahara
Termites don’t eat rope.