4k-UHD/Movie Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane

 

10 Cloverfield Lane is a 2016 thriller/horror movie. It stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. It was directed by Dan Trachtenberg and produced by J.J. Abrams. It is set in the same universe as the original 2008 film, Cloverfield, but it is a stand-alone film and not a direct sequel to the first movie. In it, a woman named Michelle (Winstead) is shown leaving her fiancé (voiced by Bradley Cooper). As she is heading out of town, her car is hit by a truck, and she wakes up in a room chained to a wall. She is told by a man named Howard, who is a doomsday prepper, that there has been an attack of some kind outside and that the air outside his bunker is uninhabitable. Most of the rest of the movie involves Michelle, Howard, and a man named Emmitt's (played by Gallagher) life in the bunker while Michelle tries to find out what is going on outside. The final act of the story becomes a monster movie, much like the original film. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The UHD disc has the movie, and the regular blu-ray disc has the movie and the bonus content. The bonus content includes several featurettes that can be played simultaneously or individually. The total run time for the bonus content is just under 35 minutes, and the featurettes include interviews with the cast and crew members, touching on topics such as the movie's production, score, and special effects.

The movie is a good entry in the Cloverfield universe. Again, it is not a direct sequel to the first movie. It is set in Louisiana and only tangentially references an attack on the East Coast. It is never made clear if that is the same attack that we saw in the original film. This one is primarily a psychological thriller and does not have as much action as the first movie does, although it does have some action. Goodman plays a character who is somewhat unusual and may or may not be mentally unstable and possibly evil. It is a very different role for Goodman, who is mainly known for his comedic roles. Winstead and Gallagher are also wonderful in their respective roles, but Goodman really carries the film. The fact that most of the movie is set in a very confined space actually adds to the suspense. The ending was somewhat controversial when the movie was released, but it was actually foreshadowed throughout the film. While I cannot say that everyone who liked the original movie will like or love this one, if you are a fan of the horror and/or thriller genres, you will probably enjoy this one. It is well-written and very well-acted, and is absolutely worth the time to watch.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Cloverfield

 

Cloverfield is a 2008 horror film produced and conceived by J.J. Abrams (it was one of the first movies produced by his production company, Bad Robot), written by Drew Goddard, and directed by Matt Reeves. It starred Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman (now Anabelle), Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Lizzy Caplan, and Mike Vogel. It is a monster movie, heavily influenced by the old Godzilla movies, that involves a creature that destroys New York on the night of a going-away party for Stahl-David's character, Rob Hawkins. The premise of the movie is that footage from a personal camcorder is recovered in what is left of Central Park. The tape begins with footage of Rob and his girlfriend Beth (played by Yustman) spending a day together, and is intercut with footage of the day of the party, the events of the party, and the creature's destruction of the city. T.J. Miller's character, Hud, is tasked with recording the party and encouraging the partygoers to film farewell messages for Rob. The events of the film are mostly shown from the point of view of what Hud is filming and narrating. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set, containing a UHD disc and a standard Blu-ray disc. It also has a code to redeem a digital version of the film. There are a couple of different 4K releases, including a steelbook edition, each of which has the same content. The UHD disc only includes the film, while the regular Blu-ray disc contains the film and all the bonus content. The extras include a director's commentary track by Matt Reeves, a gag reel, a making-of documentary, featurettes on the visual effects and creating the creature, a few deleted scenes, and a couple of alternate endings. The film can also be played in an investigation mode, where facts about the characters and the events in the movie are displayed while the movie plays. Reeve's commentary had a lot of interesting information about the production process. 

The movie is good, but different. It was a low-budget film that was intentionally made to appear like a home movie, so the camera shakes a lot and does not always capture everything that is happening. The best way I can describe it is a cross between Godzilla and The Blair Witch Project. While the A/V quality is excellent and it looks wonderful in UHD, it has a distinctly different look and feel compared to major blockbuster movies. The film is very short (under an hour and a half, with the credits), which was almost necessary given the way the movie was filmed. It is well-written and acted, and the cast, despite being filled with young, relatively unknown actors, does a great job in their respective roles. It is much more suspenseful than it is gory, and for most of the film, the creature is shown only very fleetingly. That said, there is some violent content and a lot of swearing, so it is not suitable for young kids. If you're a fan of the horror genre, especially monster movies, this is worth watching. If you have a physical media collection, it's also worth adding to it. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

 

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a 2003 action/comedy film that is the direct sequel to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. McG returned to direct the film, which brought back Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu to reprise their roles as the Angels Dylan, Natalie, and Alex. Crispin Glover, Luke Wilson, and Matt LeBlanc also reprised their roles from the first movie. The additions to the cast included Demi Moore, Robert Patrick, John Cleese, Shia LeBeouf, Justin Theroux, Bernie Mac, and Ja'Net Dubois. The film also features several cameo appearances, including Carrie Fisher, Pink, Robert Forester, Bruce Willis, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Jaclyn Smith, reprising her role as Kelly Garrett from the TV series. 

The plot involves a pair of rings that contain and unlock a list of people in the witness protection program. The list is stolen and set to be sold to various criminal organizations. A couple of revenge plots are intertwined within the story, and we get a bit more backstory about Crispin Glover's character. 

This is a single-disc release containing both the theatrical version of the film and an unrated version that adds a few more minutes to the runtime, mostly by adding more violence to a couple of the big fight scenes. The extras include several commentary tracks on the film. There is an audio and a telestrator commentary by McG. The audio tracks are exactly the same, but the telestrator commentary is annotated with things being circled in the background of some of the scenes while McG talks. Then, there is a commentary track by a couple of the writers. The theatrical version can also be played with a trivia track similar to the old show, Pop-Up Video, where information about the movie is displayed in pop-up boxes while it plays. Then there are several different making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a preview for the 2019 reboot, and the music video for Pink's song Feel Good Time. 

Ultimately, the movie is a fun action-comedy. It is similar in style and tone to the first movie. It does have a lot of adult humor that skirts the bounds of what can be included in a PG-13 film. There is also a scene where the Angels are nude in shadow so you cannot really see anything except for a brief flash of sideboob from Drew Barrymore. Of course, the big draw when the movie came out was that this was Demi Moore's return to movies after a hiatus of about six years. She was phenomenal in the role and looked fantastic. It seems all the actors had fun in their respective roles and did not take themselves too seriously. The big change from the first film is that Bill Murray did not return. The writer's commentary track touched on Murray's absence, stating that they knew they would have to go in a different direction with the Bosley character when it was clear that Murray would not be back. There was no mention in any of the bonus content of the conflict between him and Lucy Liu in the first movie. They came up with a good way to have Bernie Mac be the new Bosley and did include a picture of Murray in one of the scenes. If you liked the first movie, you will probably like this one. Like the first film, this one takes a lot of suspension of disbelief and has some plot holes, but if you do not overthink it and just enjoy it for what it is, it is worth watching.   

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Charlie's Angels

 

Charlie's Angels is a 2000 action-comedy based on the 1970s TV series of the same name. It stars Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, and Crispin Glover in the main roles. Tim Curry, Matt LeBlanc, Luke Wilson, Melissa McCarthy, Tom Green, LL Cool J, and Alex Trebek have smaller roles (or cameos). John Forsythe reprised his role from the TV series playing the voice of Charlie, while Barrymore, Liu, and Diaz played the Angels. Murray plays Bosley, who is the go-between the Angels and Charlie. The plot involves misdirection about who the true bad guys are, but the meat of the storyline is that someone is trying to track down Charlie as a part of a revenge scheme, using the Angels and Bosley as unwitting pawns in the plan.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding and is a massive upgrade over the DVD release and a decent upgrade over the 1080p release. Most of the extras are on the regular blu-ray, but the UHD disc has the teaser and theatrical trailers for the movie and a sneak peek at the 2019 reboot/quasi-sequel written and directed by Elizabeth Banks. The extras on the regular blu-ray were carried over from the prior physical media releases and include a commentary track by director McG and cinematographer Russell Carpenter, several behind-the-scenes featurettes featuring cast interviews, a blooper reel (which are the same bloopers shown in the end credits), deleted scenes, and two music videos.

The movie is a bit dated, but it holds up pretty well even after 25 years (as of this writing). It has a good blend of action and humor, and Barrymore, Diaz, and Liu had no qualms about looking silly. They did work their asses off to do a lot of the stunts. And, they were all hot as fire. Some of the humor is a bit cheesy, and Tom Green is annoying, as always. While Barrymore, Diaz, and Lui seemed to have great chemistry, there was no mention in any of the bonus material of the tension between Murray and Liu that would lead to the role of Bosley being recast in the direct sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Ultimately, this combines a good action movie and a silly comedy. If you can accept it for what it is and what it is not, it is worth watching. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Career Opportunities

 

Career Opportunities is a 1991 coming-of-age romantic comedy. It was written by prolific 80s writer and director John Hughes and directed by Bryan Gordon in his first major directing role. The film starred Frank Whaley, Jennifer Connelly, Dermot Mulroney, and Kieran Mulroney in the leading roles. The supporting cast included John M Jackson, Jenny O'Hara, Noble Willingham, Barry Corbin, William Forsythe, and John Candy (in an uncredited cameo role). The movie was filmed in 1989, but because of post-production issues and reshoots, it was not released until 1991. 

In the film, Whaley plays Jim Dodge, a 21-year-old slacker with little to no ambition and a reputation as the "town liar" in his small Illinois town. His only friends are a group of pre-teen kids who are the only ones who believe his lies about how wonderful his life is. In reality, Jim gets fired from every job he manages to get, and is content to live at home forever. His father gives him an ultimatum to get (and keep) the job he lined up at the local Target as a night janitor, or he will ship him off to St. Louis to work as a gardener. Connelly plays Josie McClellan, the daughter of the town's rich real-estate developer. She has the reputation of a spoiled rich girl and a tease, but the film reveals her life is not as idyllic as it seems. During Jim's first shift, he is locked in the store (seemingly alone) but discovers that Josie is locked in with him and the two bond until they are taken hostage by two criminals (played by Dermot and Kieran Mulroney) who are on a crime spree throughout the state.

The 4k set is a two-disc set released by Kino Lorber containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality is outstanding, and the film looks and sounds wonderful in the UHD format. It is a considerable upgrade over the DVD release. The film has two commentary tracks (both recorded around 2023). One of the commentary tracks is by director Bryan Gordon, and the other is by the Chicago Critics' Film Festival producer, Erik Childress. Both tracks are good and provide a lot of information about the film. Gordon's commentary talks about the production, things he liked and did not like about the movie, and things he would have done differently if he made the film now. Childress' track focuses much more on the overall story, and the lost potential for the film to delve into Josie's storyline more. The other bonus content, available on the regular blu-ray disc, includes an interview with Dermot and Kieran Mulroney where they discuss how they got into acting and their work on the film (that runs about 15 minutes),  an interview with the director of photography (that runs about 11 minutes), and the trailer (along with trailers for Uncle Buck, The Hot Spot, and Some Girls). 

The movie is good, but uneven. It has a mix of comedy and drama, and the drama gets a bit dark when Josie reveals that she is being physically abused by her father and her motivations for wanting to get caught shoplifting. The movie is only an hour and 22 minutes long (including credits), and a lot was cut out (which you can tell from things in the trailer that did not make it into the film). It was revealed in the commentary tracks that neither Gordon nor Hughes liked the final product. Hughes even wanted his name taken off the film (which the studio refused to do). It was also revealed that Connelly was pissed off at how the movie was marketed, over sexualizing her character. Given that teenage boys were the film's target market, it is not surprising that it was marketed around Connelly's looks and assets (which got me to go see the film when it was released), but she was never told that would be the case. The movie is well-acted (all the actors did a good job with their characters), but the writing is uneven. There are definitely some funny moments in the film and some good dramatic moments, but it feels disjointed (probably because of the reshoots that the studio required). Ultimately, it is an okay movie that does take some suspension of disbelief to buy what is going on (such as why a department store would only have one employee on the overnight shift to clean when in reality there would be people stocking shelves, more than one person cleaning, and there would at least be security cameras being monitored).  It is not nearly as good as Hughes' big hits like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Home Alone, etc. That said, it is still worth checking out as long as you do not try to overanalyze it too much.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Basic Instinct

 

Basic Instinct is the 1992 erotic thriller starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. It was written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven. The supporting cast includes George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Wayne Knight, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Mitch Pileggi. In the film, Stone plays a novelist named Catherine Tramell. Her boyfriend is killed with an ice pick at the beginning of the movie by a woman whose face we never see while having sex. Douglas and Dzundza play police detectives investigating the murder. Tramell begins playing mind games with Douglas' character, telling him that she is going to base the lead character in her new novel on him. The movie is essentially a who-done-it that throws a lot of misdirection meant to make it ambiguous as to whether Catherine is really the murderer or is being set up.

The 4k set is a three-disc set containing a UHD disc and two regular blu-ray discs. The A/V quality is excellent.  While some of the scenes still have some imperfections and grain, many of the scenes show a lot more detail than any prior physical media releases of the movie. The UHD disc and the first regular blu-ray have the same content, the movie and some bonus features. The second regular blu-ray disc just has additional bonus content. The bonus features include three commentary tracks on the film: the original 1993 commentary track by Verhoeven, a second commentary track that was created for the special edition DVD release featuring Verhoeven and the director of photography, Jan De Bont, and a third commentary track by Professor Camille Paglia. The first two contain a lot of good information about the movie, the casting processes (especially casting Stone to play Catherine Tramell), and all the controversy the movie's production garnered. Paglia's track is not as good. It seemed like she wrote a scene-by-scene breakdown of the movie for a college lecture and just read it word-for-word. It does not seem like she was giving an authentic reaction to just watching the film. 

The rest of the bonus content on the UHD (and first regular blu-ray) disc includes a couple of new featurettes featuring interviews with the cast and crew that were made for the 4k release, and some of the archival featurettes that were transferred over from earlier physical media releases (such as a featurette on how the movie was edited for television, original screen tests by Stone and Tripplehorn, a TV spot, and the trailers, as well as an archival interview with Stone). The rest of the bonus content on the second regular blu-ray disc is all archival content transferred from the prior physical media releases, including the original making-of featurettes (including one from the VHS release of the film), storyboard comparisons, and the like. Some of the material on this disc (such as the screen test and trailers) is duplicative of the material on the UHD disc. Note that some 4k sets are UK imports, meaning that the UHD disc is region-free and will play in the US, but the two regular blu-rays are region-locked, so you will need a region-free or Region-2 player to watch them. The Lionsgate Steelbook edition is a US release so all the discs will play in on Region-1 players.

The movie is a good thriller, but some things about it would probably be changed if it were made today. It is absolutely not family-friendly, as it contains a lot of nudity (including the infamous interrogation scene), swearing, and sexual content. The movie's ending is ambiguous as to whether Catherine is guilty or innocent, but Verhoeven definitively answers that question in the commentary tracks and other bonus material. The bonus material is where the set really shines. It has hours of bonus content, and even in the newly added bonus features, all the participants discuss all aspects of making the movie and the controversies surrounding making the film (including the reaction from the gay and lesbian community before and after the film came out). Verhoeven and Stone still wildly disagree as to whether she was made aware of what was going to be shown in the upskirt shot in the interrogation scene, but Stone admits, while she was pissed that she was never told that her crotch would be visible, that it worked for the movie. Ultimately, it is a good movie that is worth the time to watch, and if you like going through bonus content, the 4k version is a must-add to your collection.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: American Pie [UK Import]

 

American Pie is the iconic 1999 coming-of-age teen comedy written by Adam Herz, directed by Paul Weitz, and starring Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, Natasha Lyonne, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, and Jennifer Coolidge. Chris Owen, Christina Milan, Casey Affleck, and Eli Marienthal have more minor supporting roles, and the members of the band Blink 182 have cameo appearances. 

The movie is set in the fictional town of East Great Falls, Michigan, and centers around a pact made by a group of friends in their senior year of high school (Biggs, Klein, Nicholas, and Thomas) to lose their virginity by prom. The film launched the careers of the younger actors (most of whom were in their early to mid-twenties when the movie was filmed, except for Thomas) and helped revive the careers of Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge. It is primarily a raunchy comedy with more serious moments between various comedic moments. While all the cast members do a great job in their roles, Hannigan and Levy steal most of the scenes they are in. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set from the UK containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. The UHD disc includes both versions of the movie, the theatrical and unrated versions. The UHD disc is region-free and will play on US (Region A) players. The regular blu-ray is region-locked to Region B and appears to be coded so it will not play on region-free players. When I put it in my Region 2 player, the blu-ray disc loaded to the menu, and although the menu page had sound, when I tried to play the movie or the bonus feature, no sound came out. The only extra on the UHD disc is the original DVD commentary track featuring Herz, Weiz, Biggs, Scott, and Thomas. All the other extras are on the regular blu-ray. Most of them are carried over from the original DVD release (such as the outtakes, music videos, trailer, etc.). However, not all of the bonus content from the original release is included. There are a couple of new featurettes included specifically for this release, but as I said, none of those played with sound. The A/V quality of the movie on the UHD disc is outstanding and is a significant upgrade from the DVD.

The movie is good and holds up relatively well even after twenty-six years (as of this writing). There are certainly things in the film that probably would not be included or significantly changed (like the scrambled porn scene, the webcam scene, etc.) if the movie were made today. Some of the themes in the film are timeless to growing up and will remain true forever. The movie is definitely raunchy (it really revived the raunchy teen comedy genre) and has a lot of sexual content and dialog, although only one real nude scene (in which Shannon Elizabeth is topless). The unrated version of the movie is nearly identical, with the only real change being to the pie scene to make it raunchier than in the theatrical version. Ultimately, the movie is good, even if it is a bit dated. This release could have been better if all the extras had been put on the UHD disc. If you are in the US and don't care about watching the bonus content, it is worth the pickup since the UHD disc will play on your player. If you want the bonus content, you may want to wait and see if the movie gets a US release. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Babygirl

 

Babygirl is a 2024 drama written and directed by Helina Rejin. It stars Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, and Antonio Banderas in the leading roles and Esther Rose McGregor, Sophie Wilde, and Izabel Mar in the supporting roles. Kidman plays a high-powered CEO of a robotics company named Romy Mathis. Romy has an unfulfilled personal life and uses a prim and proper facade, an air of control, and an attitude of not being bothered by anything to mask many insecurities. She begins having an affair with a young intern at the company, Samuel (played by Dickinson), as she explores her submissive side. 

The 4k release is a single-disc UHD release. The movie looks and sounds fantastic in the UHD format. The extras include a commentary track on the film by Rejin, which provides a lot of insight into the story and the filming process, some behind-the-scenes material, and deleted scenes. The movie is good, but it will definitely not appeal to everyone. It has a lot of sexual content, some nudity (much of the sex is covered up, but there are some nude scenes including topless and butt shots of Kidman), and a lot of swearing. Kidman does a great job playing a character who is not very emotive, which packs a punch the few times she expresses emotion. Despite having some star power, the film feels more like an indie movie than a big-budget blockbuster. Ultimately, it is a good film, so it is worth watching if those things do not dissuade you. 

4k-UHD/TV Series Review: The Penguin

 

The Penguin is an eight-episode series that aired in the fall of 2024 on HBO/Max. It is partly a sequel to/spin-off of the 2022 film The Batman, with Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oz Cobb/Penguin. It stars Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Carmen Ejogo, Deirdre O'Connell, and Clancy Brown in the main roles, and Theo Rossi, Michael Zegen, Michael Kelly, Mark Strong, and Shohreh Aghdashloo in supporting roles. It starts out one week after the events of The Batman, with the city recovering from the flood and with a power vacuum in the organized crime community after the death of Carmine Falcone. Penguin begins to position himself by playing both sides of what remains of the Falcone family and Maroni family. The release of Sophia Falcone from Arkham (who was imprisoned for a decade for a series of murders) throws a wrench in his plans. The series also uses flashbacks to show Penguin's origin as a kid and then as a low-level operative in the Falcone family as Sophia's driver before she is sent to Arkham.

The 4k set is a three-disc set. The eight episodes are spread across the three discs. Each disc has bonus content, including the eight "Inside Gotham" segments that played after the episodes aired on Max and included interviews with the cast and showrunners about the events of the particular episodes. Then, there are several behind-the-scenes featurettes that range in length from a few minutes to just under ten minutes and cover different aspects of the series. The A/V quality of the episodes in the UHD format is outstanding. 

The series is very well-written and acted. The writers do a great job with character development, especially for Oz, Sophia, and Victor (played by Feliz). They have to balance making Oz human and showing why he is a true villain. They do a fantastic job of making him almost sympathetic and then having him do something truly despicable to take all that sympathy away. Farrell is outstanding in the role of Oz, and Milioti is a tour-de-force as Sophia. While the show has the same look, tone, and feel as The Batman movie, it does not include Bruce Wayne/Batman, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, or Jim Gordon (although Selina is name-dropped), and we do see the Bat symbol in the sky in the final episode. It does have a lot of violence and swearing. It also has some suggestive sexual content but no nudity (although there are a couple of shots that get close to showing nudity). So, it is definitely not appropriate for young kids. If you liked The Batman movie, this is absolutely a must-watch. Even if you have not seen the film, the show provides enough context from the film to follow along with the story without getting lost. Ultimately, it is a wonderful series that is worth your time to watch. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Men in Black: International

 

Men in Black International is a 2019 Sci-Fi action film. It is partly a sequel to and partly a reboot of, the Men In Black movie franchise made famous by the original 1997 film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. It stars Tessa Thompson as Agent M, a young woman named Molly who first learned of Aliens and MIB as a young child, and then spent her entire life trying to get "recruited" into the organization. Chris Hemsworth plays Agent H, an MIB agent based in London, who is pretty much a "college bro" like character who ends up being Agent M's partner. The plot involves a possible mole within MIB working to assist an alien life form that can destroy the earth, and Agent M and H trying to stop it. They are joined by Kumail Nanjiani who plays the role of the alien sidekick. The rest of the cast includes Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, and Blaney. The movie is mostly a reboot, given that neither Smith nor Jones makes an appearance in the movie. There is a bit of continuity with Emma Thompson reprising her role as Agent O and cameos by Frank the Pug and the Worm guys. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-ray. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc just contains the movie, and the regular blu-ray includes the movie and all the extras. The bonus content includes previews, a gag reel (which is actually the first movie-related extra, which is usually not a good sign for how extensive the bonus material will be), deleted/alternate/extended scenes, and then a handful of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes.

Overall, the movie was decent but totally unnecessary. You absolutely do not have to know anything about the prior movies to follow what is going on in this one. I do not think there was any clamor for a reboot to extend the series. That said, the story was okay, if not predictable in parts, and the acting was very good. Hemsworth has no qualms about making fun of himself and did so in this movie much as he did as "Fat Thor" in Avengers Endgame. He and Tessa Thompson had great chemistry, and she definitely shows that she has what it takes to be a lead (or co-lead) character in a big movie. This is not as good as the original movie, or either of the two sequels with the original stars. That said, as its own thing, it told a fun story and had great special effects, as you would expect. While I will not say that the movie is a must-have or must-see if you are a fan of the franchise, it is worth checking out, even if you just choose to stream it.

4k-UHD/Movie Collection Review: Men in Black Trilogy

 

This is a 4k release of the Men in Black trilogy of films (1997's Men in Black, 2002's Men in Black II, and 2012's Men in Black 3) directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. This is the franchise that, along with movies like Independence Day, vaulted Will Smith into the status of summer blockbuster movie star. The original trilogy spanned a period of about 15 years, from the 1997 release of the original movie, the 2002 release of Part II, and the 2012 release of Part III. As most are aware, the premise of all the movies is that aliens are living free among humans on Earth, and a shadowy, secret organization called Men in Black keeps track of all the aliens, keeping the peaceful ones safe and in line, policing the non-peaceful ones, and making sure humans are blissfully unaware of their existence. It starred, primarily, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as Agents J and K, respectively, who in all the movies have to stop some kind of plot that will destroy Earth or cause some kind of intergalactic war.

Each movie had a strong supporting cast, including Linda Florentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, Laura Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Patrick Warburton, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Alice Eve, Mike Colter, Nicole Scherzinger, and more. The films (especially Parts II and III) included celebrity cameos (mostly playing aliens), such as Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Yao Ming, and Tim Burton. All of the movies blended a lot of humor, action, and even a bit of drama, and managed to tell unique stories without being carbon copies of each other, which would be very easy to do in a franchise such as this. Smith and Jones, and later Smith and Josh Brolin (who played a young Agent K in Part III) had great chemistry with each other. And, it seemed genuine from the behind-the-scenes material. If their relationships did not work, it would have never become a franchise that moved beyond the original movie. Smith, as a brash younger agent, played extremely well off of Jone's deadpan, curmudgeonly delivery. And in Part III Brolin did a wonderful job playing a version of Agent K that was different from how Jones played him but was able to include elements of what Jones did with the older version.

The 4K set is a six-disc set. The movies look and sound fantastic in the upgraded format. Obviously, Part III looks the best, but even the original is an excellent upgrade over the original DVD release. Each movie has two discs, one UHD disc with just the movie and one regular blu-ray with the movie and extras. Each movie has at least one general behind-the-scenes feature and then several specific featurettes such as, for example, scene breakdowns, how they came up with and made the alien creatures, the special effects, etc. There are also gag reels, trailers, and music videos. Each movie also has a commentary track. A lot of material for those who like going through the extras. The only negative to the set is that the discs are stacked on top of each other in their case (each movie has its own case within the outer box). It is a minor point, but it would have been better packaged so that each disc sat on either side of the case in its own housing. That said, I definitely recommend picking up this set.

4k-UHD/TV Movie Review: Battlestar Galactica

 

This is a TV movie version of the three-part premiere (the pilot episode and the two-part Saga of a Star World) of the original 1978 Sci-Fi series Battlestar Galactica, starring Lorne Green, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Maren Jensen, Jane Seymour, Terry Carter, Laurette Spang-McCook, Rick Springfield, and Ed Begley Jr. (the latter two in smaller roles). This is essentially an edited version of the pilot episode of the TV series titled Saga of a Star World, with an alternate ending from what was shown in the series. The series would have been quite different if the movie ending had been used. It is set in a distant galaxy and involves a war between twelve human colonies and a race of robots called Cylons. The Cylons present a peace offer, and representatives of the twelve colonies and several Battlestar ships arrive for armistice talks. Commander Adama (played by Green), the commander of the Battlestar Galactica, suspects a trap, which the Cylons spring, destroying most of the fleet and killing the council of twelve. Adama uses the Galactica to rescue as many humans from the colonial worlds as possible. Then they set off to find the legendary 13th human colony, Earth, all while battling (and trying to avoid) the Cylons. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc (the original Blu-Ray version of the movie released in 2013). Both discs have the same content, just the movie and no bonus features. The video quality of the UHD disc is excellent. It does have some film grain, but the video is crisp and clear (mostly), which is sometimes a detriment because the special effects back in the late 1970s were not great (at least by today's standards). In general, the shots set on the planets and ships look fantastic, while the space battles did not look as good. Many of the costumes and makeup for various aliens look very cheesy, and you can tell how fake everything was when you see it in 4k resolution. The audio is okay, but not great. The same 2.1-channel surround track created for the 2013 Blu-Ray release is on the UHD disc and was not upgraded for the 4K release.

Ultimately, I would say the movie is okay but absolutely dated. If you have watched the 2003 reboot, you will recognize elements from the plot that were incorporated into the pilot episode for the rebooted series. While I have not watched the entire original series yet, this is definitely not as good as any of the episodes in the rebooted series. Part of that is, of course, due to the limits on special effects at the time. CGI did not exist in 1978, and even practical effects and makeup were more limited back then than they are now. Even so, this is a Sci-Fi classic, and if you liked the 2003 series, this is worth watching, if nothing else, to see the differences between the original series and the reboot.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

 

Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 biopic of the popular 70s and 80s rock band Queen, focusing on the band's lead singer, Freddy Mercury. It was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Lucy Boynton, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, and Aaron McCusker. The movie starts and ends at the 1985 Live Aid concert. The film begins with Mercury (played by Malek) walking to the Live Aid stage, and then it flashes back to 1970 to show the band's formation and chronicles their rise to fame, breakup, and reunion. The show ends with a recreation of the Live Aid performance, which is regarded by many as the band's best performance. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc contains the movie and one of the bonus features, the full recreation of the 21-minute live-aid performance (which was cut down for the film's theatrical release). The rest of the bonus features are on the regular Blu-Ray disc, which includes several featurettes (that each last approximately 20 minutes) with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew as well as a couple of the surviving band members, including Brian May who was also a producer on the film, and three different trailers for the movie.  So, if you are a fan of bonus content, this has over an hour's worth of material. Interstingly, Singer is not featured in any of the bonus material. He had a notorious reputation for being a difficult director (pretty much being an asshole to people on set). After the allegations of sexual assault against him in 2017, Singer became persona non grata. He was replaced late in the movie's production but still received the directing credit. This was (at least for now) his final directing job.

The movie is well-written and very well-acted. Malek is fantastic as Mercury and almost perfectly nailed his look, voice, and mannerisms. Mercury was a flamboyant and weird dude, and Malek channeled that well. Malek seems a bit odd, so it was a good fit. The movie did not sugarcoat Mercury's problems with drugs, relationships, his issues dealing with his sexuality, and the promiscuous lifestyle that led to him contracting AIDS. The writers also did a great job showing the complicated dynamics between the band members. While Mercury wanted to constantly party, the others had families and were increasingly irritated at Mercury always being late for rehearsal and recording sessions. While the movie is just over two hours long, there was not enough time to focus on the lives of the other band members, so they are primarily seen in scenes together as a group, while we see much more of Mercury's personal life. Ultimately, it is an excellent movie and enjoyable whether you are a fan of Queen or even like their music all that much. Although several of the band's songs are played in the movie, so it does help if you like their music. It is absolutely worth watching.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Caligula: The Ultimate Cut: Collector's Edition

 

Caligula is the controversial film about the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor, Caligula, who ruled from 37-41 A.D. The movie stars Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy, Peter O'Toole, Paolo Bonacelli, John Steiner, Anneka Di Lorenzo, and Lori Wagner. It was filmed in 1976 but not released until 1980 because of post-production and legal issues, mainly stemming from the final edit of the film, overseen by producer Bob Guccione, who was the owner of Penthouse magazine, that added explicit X-rated footage to the movie without the knowledge of the main cast members, the director (Tinto Brass) or the screenwriter (Gore Vidal). Both Brass and Vidal did not want to be credited on the movie (the credits say "Principal Photography by Tinto Brass" and "Adapted from the screenplay by Gore Vidal"). The movie itself is a bit weird, but all the stories about the making of the movie are even stranger. Basically, it was filmed in Italy, using British and Italian actors and Italian extras. Guccione thought that the film was not sexy enough and the Italian extras were not attractive enough, so he brought in several Penthouse models, including Di Lorenzo and Wagner, to use as extras. Then, after Principal Photography was finished, Guccione secretly recorded reshoots with the X-rated content using the Penthouse models and inserted it into the film using a new editor. Because of the explicit content, several versions of the movie have been cut over the years due largely to censorship standards in various markets.  In 2019, author and historian Thomas Negovan was hired to oversee the film's restoration and recut to match Vidal's original script as much as possible, using the recently discovered original slides and negatives. 

The 4K set is a four-disc set containing a UHD disc and three regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc contains the restored version of the movie that uses all new footage for every scene and includes an animation sequence at the beginning of the film to set up the story. It also rearranges scenes from some other versions, beginning the movie with Caligula waking up from his nightmare. The version of the film on the UHD disc is just under three-and-a-half hours long, and the A/V quality is excellent. The only extra on the UHD disc is an audio commentary on the film by Arrow Films author Heather Drain. Disc 2, the first regular Blu-Ray, has a shorter version of the Ultimate Cut of the film (that runs just under three hours) and also includes a commentary track by Drain. Disc 3 contains the unrated, uncensored cut of the movie with the explicit content and some of the extras, including a webcast discussion between Negovan and Aaron Shapps about the Ultimate Cut of the movie and a webcast of Negovan discussing premiering the new cut of the film at Cannes. Disc 4 includes the pre-release cut of the film without the X-rated material, the Australian version of the movie, and the Italian version of the film, which is the shortest cut of the film at just over an hour and a half that can be played with or without English subtitles. The Australian and Italian versions of the movie tone down the nudity a lot, and the Italian version cuts many of the scenes, so it really streamlines the storyline. 

There are three different audio commentary tracks on the pre-release version of the movie, one including Malcolm McDowell, one including Helen Mirren, and one including the on-set writer Ernest Volkman. The rest of the bonus features are on the fourth disc and include two different Q&A sessions with Negovan and McDowell at the Fantastic Film Festival. Hearing the different views on the movie's original version is interesting. McDowell hated it (and Guccione) and seemed irritated with the Penthouse models, especially Di Lorenzo. On the other hand, Mirren did not seem to have much of an issue with the explicit content. Opinions on Guccione's addition seem to range from Guccione destroyed the movie, to he was financing the film so he could do what he wanted with it. In the archival interviews featuring Guccione in the bonus content, he was clear that he wanted a blend of a mainstream movie and a pornographic film. The rest of the extras include behind-the-scenes material, an interview with Lori Wagner (who says the Penthouse models were promised speaking parts in the film and only found out that they would be extras once they got on set), and a couple of making-of featurettes that included interviews with the cast and crew when the film was made. If you get the set from Umbrella Entertainment, it also comes with two posters, 8 poster cards, two different books, and a commemorative reprint of the Caligula issue of Penthouse Magazine (just the portion discussing the movie, not the entire magazine). Everything fits into a hard outer case. 

As I said above, the movie is weird. Even if it were a standard movie that never included explicit content (and yes, that includes actual sex in which you can see everything), it would be a very adult film. Each version of the movie has nudity and shows much more nudity than many mainstream films do (including full-frontal male and female nudity). McDowell's performance was very over-the-top, but he was playing a character that essentially went crazy as he amassed more power. Mirren (who was still a relative unknown at the time) did a good job in her role as Caesonia, and Peter O'Toole was great in the limited amount of time he was in the film. The movie absolutely feels dated and would probably be made much differently today. If you love going through bonus content, this has a ton of fascinating material. It is not a movie that will appeal to everyone, and even the tamer versions of the film may offend many people, but if you are a film buff, the movie is worth watching, and this set is worth picking up.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Limited Edition Steelbook

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the 2024 horror-comedy sequel to the original 1988 movie. It was directed by Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara, all reprising their roles as Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Delia from the original movie. It also stars Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci. Burn Gorman also reprises his supporting role from the original film, and Danny DeVito has a small cameo appearance at the beginning of the movie. Like the original film, this one is kind of weirdly offbeat, but it works. In it, we learn that Charles Deetz, played by Jeffrey Jones in the original movie, died, bringing the family back to the house for his funeral. Lydia has a paranormal talk show in which she interacts with ghosts in people's homes. Her daughter, Astrid (played by Ortega), is full of teenage angst and does not believe in her mother's ability to see ghosts. In the afterlife, we learn that Beetlejuice is still pining after Lydia, while his ex-wife (Bellucci), who was an occultist in life and who can suck out souls in death, is coming after him. Lydia starts seeing Beetlejuice in the real world, and events require her to call on him for help.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. You can get the 4k set in a steelbook package with a glow-in-the-dark slipcover with Lydia on one side, Beetlejuice on the other, or in regular packaging. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Both the audio and video quality are top-notch and at or near reference quality. The extras are all included on the UHD disc. Those include a commentary track by Tim Burton, a making-of featurette that runs almost a half hour, and then about an hour of behind-the-scenes material split up into six shorter featurettes. The commentary track by Burton is okay, but it does have some long stretches in which he does not say anything, and the movie is playing. However, he provides information on the discussions he has had with Keaton over the years for a possible sequel, why he felt it was better to wait to make the sequel instead of doing it in the early or mid-1990s, and specifics of the production. He does not detail why Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Jeffrey Jones were not returned for the sequel. Jones' likeness was used, but he did not play or voice Charles Deetz in the movie. He was not brought back because of his legal issues, but I have not seen or heard any explanation for why Baldwin and Davis were not brought back (or if they were even offered parts). There was a line in the film explaining the absence of the Maitlands (Baldwin and Davis' characters from the original movie).

The movie is a fine sequel to the original. It mixes horror and comedy and, like the first movie, has an epic musical number. It does not have an overabundance of CGI, as Burton relied on practical effects where he could and used stop-motion animation for sequences where CGI is usually used. Therefore, the movie was able to have a similar look and feel to the original. It is definitely a quirky movie that will not appeal to everyone's tastes. There is a lot going on in the movie, with a few different storylines that are sometimes separate and sometimes intertwined. Bellucci's role seemed just shoehorned into the movie, did not tie to any of the main plotlines, and only intersected with the other parts of the story at the end. Ultimately, if you were a fan of the original film, this is definitely worth watching.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Alien Romulus

 

Alien Romulus is a 2024 Sci-Fi/horror film co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez. It is (as of this writing) the newest entry in the Alien franchise of films, set in the year 2142 between the original 1979 movie Alien (set in 2122) and the 1986 movie Aliens (set in 2179). It stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Arche Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. In it, a group of young colonists living and working on the planet LV-410 steals a hauler with the intent to raid an abandoned space station so they can steal the cryostasis equipment and get to a planet called Yvaga III, which is not controlled by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Little do they know, the corporation had recovered a cocoon from the wreckage of the Nostromo that contained the xenomorph that killed the crew of the Nostromo, brought it aboard the station, and began reverse engineering the facehuggers. Of course, the station's crew were all killed, and there are Aliens in the "Romulus" module of the station, which the group inadvertently releases when they attempt to steal the cryostasis equipment. Then, it becomes a monster-chase movie similar to the other films in the franchise. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD version of the movie is excellent and is reference quality (or near reference quality) for both the audio and video. All the extras are included on the regular Blu-Ray disc. Those include about 11 minutes of deleted scenes, about 35 minutes of behind-the-scenes material, and a conversation between Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott (who was an executive producer on the film). In total, there are just under an hour of extras. There is no director's commentary track on the film, which would have been nice given how big a fan Alvarez is of the franchise and how many easter eggs he put in the movie to tie it to Alien and Aliens. 

Ultimately, the movie is an excellent return to the franchise. It is well-written and acted. It focuses on the franchise's horror/monster movie roots but expands the storyline to give more detail into the Weyland corporation's plans for the creatures. As I said above, Alvarez is a huge fan of the franchise and included many easter eggs and callbacks to the prior movies, especially Alien, including a way to posthumously use Ian Holm's likeness for the Android Rook, which is an identical model to Ash from the original movie, whom the group encounters on the station. It also ties the film to the colony aspect introduced in Aliens, giving a perspective of what it was like for the kids living in those colonies. It also incorporates aspects from the prequel films Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Given the 30+ year gap between the events of Romulus and Aliens, this movie could have multiple sequels down the line. However, even as a standalone film in the franchise, it is absolutely worth watching. 

4k-UHD/Movie Collection Review: The Bourne Complete Collection

 

This is a collection of the four Bourne movies starring Matt Damon (2002's The Bourne Identity, 2004's The Bourne Supremacy, 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum, and 2016's Jason Bourne) and the 2012 spin-off film starring Jeremy Renner, The Bourne Legacy. Most of the movies center around the character of Jason Bourne (Damon), who, in the first movie, is fished out of the ocean with no memory of who he is. He discovers that he has superior fighting and espionage skills and is subsequently chased by government agents. He begins to regain fragments of his memory, discovering he is an assassin for a CIA black ops group code-named Treadstone. In The Bourne Legacy (set during The Bourne Ultimatum's events), we learn that Treadstone was one of many black-ops programs, including one called Outcome, which was creating a group of super-soldiers. The movies had strong supporting casts, including Julia Stiles, Rachel Weisz, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Chris Cooper, Karl Urban, Tommy Lee Jones, Edward Norton, Alicia Vikander, Paddy Considine, Clive Owen, and Vincent Cassel. The crux of each movie involves the heroes being chased down by the CIA or some branch of the CIA. They are mostly action thrillers with some drama (and humorous moments) mixed in. 

The 4K set is a six-disc set consisting of five UHD discs (one for each movie) and one regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD discs varies. They are packaged in a slim keep case, with all five movies held on their own base, which is held in an outer box. The audio quality of all the movies in UHD is outstanding. However, the video quality of the first three movies (Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum) is not much better than the 1080p regular Blu-Ray transfer. The video quality of Legacy and Jason Bourne is much better. Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum, and Legacy can be played with a director's commentary track. There is no commentary track on Jason Bourne. The sixth disc has the remaining bonus materials, categorized by movie. They vary by movie but generally include deleted scenes, gag reels, and behind-the-scenes material. Each movie has an hour or more of bonus content. The bonus features are carried over from the original physical media releases of the movie. No new bonus material has been created for this set. Ultimately, this is a good set, but I would not call it a must-own if you already have the movies on Blu-Ray. You do not get anything new from those releases, and the A/V quality of the films in UHD is not a massive upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray (at least for three of the five movies). The movies themselves, however, hold up well and are worth watching if you are a fan of action-thrillers.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Jason Bourne

 

Jason Bourne, released in 2016, is the fifth movie in the Bourne Franchise (which started with 2002's The Bourne Identity). It was directed by Paul Greengrass and stars Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Bill Camp, and Riz Ahmed. Greengrass (who directed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) returned to direct, and Damon and Stiles reprised their roles from the earlier films. The events of this movie are set about a decade after The Bourne Ultimatum and ignore the events of The Bourne Legacy (the spinoff movie that starred Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz). In it, Bourne is living in Greece, making a living as a street fighter. Nicky Parsons hacks into the CIA to expose the Black Ops programs (like Treadstone) and then seeks Bourne's help when she discovers a link between Bourne's father and Treadstone. From there, it becomes a typical Bourne movie in which Tommy Lee Jones's character (who plays the director of the CIA, Robert Dewey) sends an "Asset," played by Vincent Cassel, to take Bourne out. Alicia Vikander plays Heather Lee, the head of the CIA's cyber ops division, who is helping track Bourne. The storyline also includes the CIA planning to use a social media platform called Deep Dream, owned by Ahmed's character, Aaron Kallor, for real-time mass surveillance. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set, including UHD and regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc just includes the movie. Unlike the prior films, this one does not have a commentary track. All the bonus content is on the regular Blu-Ray disc. It amounts to just under an hour of making-of and behind-the-scenes material. The movie is a good return to the Bourne Franchise. While I was not one of those who hated the spin-off movie, it was nice to see Damon return to the leading role (and he got extremely jacked for the role, which is no easy feat in your mid-40s as he was in when the movie was filmed). Personally, I would have liked to see him team up with Renner's character, but given that Legacy was mostly considered a flop, it is not surprising that didn't happen. It also seems like there may have been a falling out between Greengrass and Damon with Tony Gilroy, who was the screenwriter for the first four movies (and the director of Legacy) since he was not included in this movie (Greengrass and Christopher Rouse wrote this movie). Damon had made it clear that he would not return to the franchise unless Greengrass was the director, but none of the bonus features address any of that. 

The movie has a good storyline and is well-acted. It would have been nice if Julia Stiles had a larger role, but she was always a more minor character. It would also have been nice if this movie had included more of the fallout from the events of Ultimatum and Legacy (and maybe brought back Joan Allen and/or Edward Norton's characters). Still, as I said above, it ignores much of the prior movies, especially Legacy. Like the other films, it has a lot of action, including the requisite Boure chase scenes. This movie actually has two chase scenes, one early on and the other toward the end of the movie, going through the streets of Las Vegas. The storyline is mostly self-contained, so while it helps to watch at least the first three movies in the Franchise, you don't have to have seen the earlier movies to follow what is happening in this one. Ultimately, it is a good action-thriller and is worth your time to watch.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

 

The Bourne Legacy is a 2012 action thriller set in the "Bourne" universe of movies. It is directed by Tony Gilroy (who also co-wrote the screenplay). It stars Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross/Number 5, an agent in a covert division of the government code-named Operation Outcome. Also starring in the movie are the nearly ageless Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, Oscar Issac, and Dennis Boutsikaris. Cory Stoll (probably best known for his role in House of Cards), Zeljko Ivanek, and Elizabeth Marvel have minor roles in the film, and Albert Finny, Joan Allen, Scott Glen, and David Strathairn each reprise their roles from The Bourne Ultimatum. The movie was initially planned to be another Bourne sequel and bring back Matt Damon. Damon bowed out when Paul Greengrass decided not to return to direct, which caused the writers and producers to go in another direction with the story. 

The events of this film are set during the events of The Bourne Ultimatum. In fact, some footage from Ultimatum is used in this movie. In it, Cross is sent on a training exercise in Alaska, where he meets with another operative (Number Three), played by Issac, who may or may not be evaluating him. Because of the actions of Bourne and Landy, Operation Outcome, which is the main program under which all the other programs like Treadstone and Blackbriar are run, is shut down, and the agents (and anyone working on the program) are taken out. Of course, Cross survives and goes on the run with Weisz's character, Marta, a virologist who works for Outcome and also survives an attempt on her life.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a  UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc just has the movie, which can be played with or without the commentary track. The commentary track includes Tony Gilroy, co-writer Dan Gilroy, editor John Gilroy, the director of photography, second unit director, and production designer. In the commentary, they do not get into the controversy about Damon and Greengrass not returning and just stick to talking about the film. They give a lot of information about the filming and casting process, including revealing that Issac was up for the lead role, but they felt he was not established enough at that point in his career. The rest of the special features are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. Those include deleted scenes and just under an hour of behind-the-scenes material. The A/V quality of the film in UHD is outstanding. Like the other Bourne movies, this one is upscaled from 2k, but the upscaling is better than the prior films received, so it is a bigger jump in video quality from 1080p. And the audio track is terrific, especially if you have a good surround sound system. 

Legacy is a good movie that gets panned/shit on much more than it should. It definitely uses elements similar to those of other films, such as multiple chases and fight scenes. So, it has a similar feel to the other movies (which is intentional), but it does tell its own story and is not a carbon copy of the Bourne Trilogy. The story in this film flows nicely from the Bourne movies and has the potential to be further tied into that universe, leaving open the possibility of a team-up between Cross and Bourne. Given how much time has passed since this movie was made and that Cross did not appear in the film in which Damon returned to the franchise (not to mention Renner's accident that may not allow him to do a movie this physical again), that is becoming more and more unlikely. Ultimately, it is a much better film than it gets credit for being. On its own, it is a good action-thriller, but it also makes sense within the Bourne universe. It is absolutely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

 

The Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 action-thriller. It is the third entry in the Bourne Trilogy, including 2002's The Bourne Identity and 2004's The Bourne Supremacy. It stars Matt Damon, Julia Stiles (reprising their roles from the first two movies), and Joan Allen (her role from the second movie). The new cast members of the franchise include David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, Paddy Considine, and Albert Finney. Paul Greengrass returns to direct the movie, and Tony Gilroy again wrote the screenplay.

In the film, we find out that there is a six-week gap between when Bourne leaves Moscow and when he calls Pamela Landy at the end of The Bourne Supremacy when she tells him that his real name is David Webb. Most of this movie fills in that six-week gap and gives more context to the call between Bourne and Landy. We also get Bourne's entire backstory and discover how he was brought into Treadstone. The film also reveals that Treadstone was a small part of a more extensive operation within the CIA. Julia Stiles finally has a larger role in this movie than she did in either of the first two films, and we get a couple of new antagonists.

The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is good. The audio is outstanding, but the video is again upscaled from 2k, so it is not a huge leap in quality over 1080p. The UHD disc contains the movie, which can be played with the director's commentary track. The rest of the bonus material, including deleted scenes, a spy training guide, and about 45 minutes of behind-the-scenes material. You can also watch the movie in a U-control mode that integrates behind-the-scenes material while the movie plays. Ultimately, the movie is good and caps off the trilogy well. It is well-written and acted. Like the prior movies, you must suspend your disbelief and not try to think too hard about how Bourne survives the things he does, but if you can do that, it is enjoyable. If you liked the first two movies, this is absolutely worth watching.