4k-UHD/Movie Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

 

This is the final entry in the six-movie action-horror zombie apocalypse film franchise adapted from the Resident Evil video games, starring Milla Jovovich, which spanned 14 years from 2002 to 2016. This one was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, Jovovich's husband who has produced and/or directed pretty much every movie in the franchise. 

This movie is set a few weeks after the events of Retribution and sees Shawn Roberts, Ian Glen, and Ali Larter return to reprise their various characters. Alice (Jovovich) is told by the Red Queen (played by her daughter Ever) that she must return to Racoon City to release an airborne Anti-Virus that will kill everyone infected with the T-Virus (so all the zombies). She learns the origins of the T-Virus and what it was originally intended to do and tries to take out the rest of the Umbrella Corporation.  The big addition to the cast in this movie is Ruby Rose, who plays one of the characters who joins in the attack on The Hive in Racoon City.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with one UHD disc, which just contains the movie and one regular blu-ray which has all of the extras. The extras include an option to play the movie in "Retaliation Mode" which basically has cutaways to Anderson and Jovovich providing commentary on specific scenes, then there are three featurettes, one on the stunts in the movie, one on the female characters, and one on The Hive. Then there are trailers for other movies. What was included is good, but there is not an extensive amount of behind-the-scenes material. Jovovich is always good on commentary tracks and she is again entertaining in the Retribution Mode clips. 

By now, anyone interested in this knows what the movies are and what they are not. They are very good action/suspense/horror movies, and they definitely stay in that lane. Jovovich does a great job playing the lead, and she definitely walks a fine line between taking the role seriously without taking herself or the story too seriously. So, if you liked the other movies then this one is worth watching. If you have not been a fan of the other movies, then this one will probably not do much for you.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Passengers (2016)

 

Passengers is a 2016 movie starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence (not to be confused with the 2008 film of the same name starring Anne Hathaway). This movie is partly a sci-fi space drama, partly an action movie, partly a romantic drama, and partly an ethical thought experiment. Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer aboard a spaceship called the Avalon, traveling from Earth to a new, habitable planet 60 light-years away from Earth. Technology has advanced to the point where the trip only takes 120 years, so the passengers aboard the ship are put in a state of suspended animation for most of the trip with different passengers being awakened in stages when the ship is within a couple of years of its destination. During the voyage, the ship is struck by a wayward asteroid, which damages the ship and causes Preston to be awakened 90 years too early. For the first portion of the movie, it is just Pratt and Michael Sheen (who plays the ship's computer/butler, Arthur). Then, over the course of the movie, Jennifer Lawrence's character, Aurora Lane is awakened, as is Laurence Fishburne's character, Gus, who is the ship's deck officer. The movie transitions from a lost at-sea castaway kind of movie, to a romance movie, to a disaster movie all within the span of nearly four hours. 

For those who get the 4K blu-ray set, there are three discs. The 4k-UHD disc just has the movie, a 3D-Blu-Ray disc that again just has the movie, and a regular blu-ray disc that has the movie and all of the extras. The extras include four different making-of featurettes that range in length from four minutes to just over eleven minutes. Then there are about ten minutes of deleted scenes, a series of fake commercials promoting travel on The Avalon, a gag reel, and trailers for other movies. So, a decent amount is there for people who like watching the extras. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is wonderful, and the movie has a ton of great CGI visuals.

Ultimately, the movie is long but does not really feel as long as it is. It is paced very well, and while the story is definitely a bit predictable in parts, it is entertaining. Given that Pratt has to carry the first portion of the movie on his own, with only a handful of scenes with Michael Sheen playing opposite him, he does a very good job portraying a guy who slowly starts to go crazy. Jennifer Lawrence does a good job with her character once she "comes to life" and the action portion of the movie is good as well. It is definitely worth the time to watch. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Fifty Shades Darker

 

Fifty Shades Darker is the 2017 follow-up to the 2015 movie Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the series of novels by E.L. James. The movie again stars Dakota Johnson as Anastacia/Ana Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, a billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for BDSM relationships. In the first movie, the two have a torrid love affair that goes bad because of his inability to open up and have a normal relationship. This movie is essentially about his attempt to win her back and the two trying to make a relationship work, with a lot of obstacles being thrown in the way of their relationship.

For those who get the 4k Disc, the movie looks and sounds very good in the UHD format. There is definitely a video quality upgrade from the blu-ray disc (which is also included in the two-disc set). The UHD disc just has the movie itself and the blu-ray has the extras, which are pretty meager. The extras include a couple of short deleted scenes, a teaser for the final movie, and then a handful of making-of featurettes that vary in length from about 3 minutes to just under 9 minutes. Nothing special, but they are there if you want to watch them.

I have not read the books (which were mostly a hit with women), but from the reviews (and based on interviews with Dakota Johnson talking about them) they were pretty bad. And, as a result, the script definitely has some cringe-worth dialogue. The issues from the first movie definitely carry over to this one, a big one being that the chemistry between Dornan and Johnson was still not great in this movie, and overall, I just had a hard time buying them as the kind of couple they were portraying. On the plus side, if you think Johnson is hot and want to see her tits on an almost two-hour loop, this movie will give you that. There are some good additions to the cast for this movie including Bella Heathcote, Kim Bassinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Eric Johnson, and Rita Ora. I  think the expanded cast helps to break up Christian and Ana's storyline so that the chemistry issues between Johnson and Dornan are not as obvious. Ultimately, if you liked the first movie you will probably like this one, as long as you manage your expectations. It definitely has the feel of the second chapter of a trilogy, putting the characters in peril and, as kind of cliche, having an overall darker (pun intended) theme. If you think of it as Twilight without the vampires and a lot more sex, that will give you an idea of what you are getting into if you watch it.   

Product Review: Samsung Electronics UBD-K8500 3D Wi-Fi 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player (2016 Model)

 

This is a blu-ray player that can play 4k ultra-high-definition discs, as well as regular blu-rays and DVDs. It is region 1 locked, meaning it will only play discs from the US and Canada, and any region-free discs, but discs from other countries like the UK will not play on it. When paired with a TV capable of providing a 4k output, you get great picture and sound. There are, however, a couple of cons. First, the remote control is very small, and hence the buttons on it are extremely hard to use, especially if you are watching in a dark room. If you have another Samsung remote, however, that one should work with this player without any additional setup. Second, discs do freeze from time to time, even when the firmware has been updated. When a disc freezes, the only workaround is unplugging the player and plugging it back in. Sometimes the disc will start from where you left off, but most of the time it boots to the menu screen again and you have to find where you left off. I should also note that one time when I played a disc, the player made a weird humming noise, that lasted about two minutes into the playback of the movie, but that only happened when playing that one disc, so it has not been a recurring issue.

Overall, the player is good, especially for one of the more affordable players. You definitely want to keep the firmware up to date and get a good HDMI cable (the player does not come with a cable) to get the most out of the A/V quality.

4kUHD Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Fantastic Beasts is the prequel series to the Harry Potter movies and books. If you read the original Harry Potter Books you may remember that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the title of one of Harry's schoolbooks and was written by the protagonist of this series of films, Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne). The story in Fantastic Beasts is set in the mid-1920s. Newt is in New York traveling with a case of magical creatures. When one of the creatures gets out, he ends up chasing it around town and in the process, his case is swapped with that of a muggle (called a no-maj in the US) named Jacob Kowalski (played by Dan Folger). Katherine Waterston plays Tina Goldstein, an Auror at the US's version of the Ministry of Magic called the Magical Congress of the United States. Tina sees part of Newt's interaction with Jacob and arrests him for breaking magical law, and as Newt, Jacob, Tina, and her sister Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) attempt to recapture the magical beasts, they are arrested because it is believed that Newt has killed a senator in a conspiracy with the dark wizard Gellert Grindewald. 

This set has two discs, a 4k UHD disc that has just the movie itself, and then the extras are included in the regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fantastic, and as the Harry Potter movies have always been, it is at the forefront of the most up-to-date CGI and special effects such that it is very hard to tell what is CGI and what is practical, even when you know a character is totally CGI. The extras on the regular blu-ray disc include a 15-minute making-of documentary discussing the story and creating the spinoff. Then there are a series of shorter featurettes grouped into categories called "characters", "creatures", and "design". Between the three categories, there are 18 different featurettes that range in length from around 2 minutes to just over 7 minutes. Then there are about 15 minutes of deleted scenes. 

Overall, the movie is good but much different than the Harry Potter movies. Of course, the character of Grindewald was mentioned as having a past with Dumbledore (who does not appear in this movie but is mentioned) in the Harry Potter series and will have a larger role going forward. But, this is set around adult main characters, so by definition, it is a lot different than the Potter movies. The story is well-written and it is very well-acted by not only the main cast but the supporting cast which includes Colin Farell, Ron Pearlman, and Samantha Morton. Ezra Miller also has a major role in the movie, but it is not certain how that will change given all the trouble he has been getting into in his personal life. Ultimately, I think whether you will like this movie or not is going to depend on how much you can accept that you are not seeing a Harry Potter sequel or a direct Harry Potter prequel, but a series that is also set in the Harry Potter Universe. If you can accept the latter, then you will probably like this. If not, then you probably will not.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

 

Thor: The Dark World is a sequel to both the original Thor movie and The Avengers. It is set a couple of years after the events of the original Thor movie and sees Thor going through the nine realms cleaning up Loki's mess, which is also taking a lot longer because of the Bifrost having been destroyed in the first movie. Thor keeps track of Jane (mostly via Heimdall) but has not seen her in all that time, which makes for an awkward reunion, to say the least. Loki is imprisoned on Asgard, visited only by Frigga.

This movie sees the threat of Dark Elves, with the main antagonist being Makliketh (played by Christopher Eccleston), the leader of the Dark Elves who was defeated by Thor's grandfather. He is trying to capture a substance called The Ether, which can basically undo the Big Bang and bring the universe back into darkness. I will not spoil the movie for the handful of people reading this by now who have not seen the movie, but the plot requires Thor to return to Earth after Jane is put in danger and team up with Loki to take down the Dark Elves. It also sets up the concept of the Infinity Stones, which, of course, play a larger role in the following movies.

For those who get the 4k Disc set, the movie looks and sounds great in UHD. Not a huge jump from the blu-ray version of the movie, but noticeable enough that if you have a 4k TV and blu-ray player, it is worth the double-dip. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then the extras are included on the second disc which is a regular blu-ray. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by the director Alan Taylor, Marvel's head honcho, Kevin Feige, and Tom Hiddleston, who, of course, plays Loki. The commentary track provides some good insight into the process of making the film with some good behind-the-scenes details from Hiddleston. Then there is another Marvel's One Shot titled All Hail the King, which is a documentary about Trevor Slattery, the "bad guy" from Iron Man 3, showing what is life is like in prison and setting up the 10-rings storyline. Then there are deleted and extended scenes, a handful of making-of featurettes that can be viewed one at a time or all at once, and then a gag reel. So, a lot of material if you like to look at the bonus material.

Most of the supporting cast from the original movie, including Jamie Alexander, Renee Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson, and Kat Dennings, appear. Zachary Levi replaced Joshua Dallas as Fandral, one of the Warrior's Three in Asgard, because of a scheduling conflict. The other notable addition to the cast is Jonathan Howard, who plays Ian, Darcy's intern, who is basically a lacky she "hires" to do the stuff she does not want to do as Jane's intern. The movie gets ragged on, but it is definitely not as bad as some make it out to be. It is definitely a filler story, but it does set up a lot of what is to come down the line, so it is essential to what is going to play out in the later movies. The acting is great from the entire cast. I would say that the supporting characters all kind of took a back seat in this movie and were not as involved as they were in the first one, but all of them made the most of their screen time. Kat Dennings stole pretty much every scene she was in, as did Stellan Skarsgård, who had to play Erik as stark-raving mad (with lucid intervals) because of Loki taking over his mind in The Avengers. There are some cameos, including the usual Stan Lee cameo, but also a pretty hilarious one by Chris Evans. The movie continues the mid-credits and post-credits scene tradition. The mid-credits scene set up the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the post-credits scene was a more humorous wrap-up of the movie. While it is not the best MCU movie, it is not as bad as some make it out to be, and is definitely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Iron Man 3

 

Iron Man 3 gets unfairly (in my opinion) shit on as being one of the worst MCU movies. While I do not believe that it is as good as the original Iron Man, Avengers, Thor, or Captain America, it is definitely on par with (or even better than) movies like Iron Man 2 and Hulk (which are also not as bad as they are made out to be). It is a one-off story set after the events of The Avengers. Tony is suffering from a form of PTSD and freaked out about what he thinks is coming and what they will be up against. It does, partly, foreshadow the decisions that lead to Ultron a couple of movies down the line.

This is the eighth MCU movie (if you watch them in chronological order) and the seventh if you watch them in release order. The basic plot is that the US is being attacked by a mysterious terrorist called The Mandarin who is setting off bombs (and then hacking TV signals to brag about it). When Happy (played by Jon Favreau; not directing this time) is injured in one of the blasts, Tony challenges The Mandarin, which leads to an attack that renders Tony without a functional suit for a good chunk of the movie. The rest of the main cast includes Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper, and Don Cheadle as Rhody, each of whom has their roles expanded even more in this movie, Guy Pierce, Ben Kingsly, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Ty Simpkins, and Miguel Ferrer (in one of his final film roles).

For those who get the 4k UHD Blu-Ray, there are two discs. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and the regular Blu-Ray has all the extras. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by the director Shane Black and the writer Drew Pearce, a 15-minute Agent Carter one-shot (basically a short movie) that shows how Peggy Carter (Hailey Atwell) becomes the director of SHIELD, 16-minutes of deleted scenes, a short gag reel, and a couple of making-of featurettes. So, not a ton, but what was included is good.

Overall, the movie is good, but not as good as some of the other MCU movies. It does further develop the characters of Tony, Pepper, and Rhody, and shows how Tony really completes the transition from selfish jackass to hero. Robert Downey Jr. is again great in his role and Ben Kingsly steals pretty much every scene he is in. Ty Simpkins also does a very good job despite being a relatively young child actor at the time. He had great chemistry with Robert Downey Jr., and the two played off each other very well. The movie is not without its flaws, but honestly, I think those are pretty minimal. There is an end-credits scene (no mid-credits scene) with Tony and Bruce Banner. It is pretty much a humorous scene, and unlike the vast majority of the MCU mid and end credits scenes, does not set up the next movie(s). I generally do think the movie is better upon a second viewing and is definitely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Marvel's The Avengers

 

This is, if you watch the MCU movies in chronological order, the seventh, after Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Hulk, and Thor. If you are watching them in release order, it is the sixth, after Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America. It is in part a sequel to both Thor and Captain America, with the Mcguffin of Captain America (the Tesseract) and the villain of Thor (Loki) being front and center in the story. Basically, Loki is tasked to use the Tesseract to open a portal through which an army of aliens called the Chitari can come through and take over Earth. The Avengers have to team up to stop him, leading to what would be referred to in the subsequent movies as "The Battle of New York" and have reverberations throughout the other movies and the tv series that the MCU would spawn.

For those who get the 4k disc, the A/V quality is excellent. I do not count myself as an A/V expert so I cannot really tell you whether the 4k UHD disc is a huge upgrade over the initial Blu-Ray release (there are certainly sites out there that can do that), but as a novice, it does look like, when watching it on a big screen 4k tv playing on a 4k Blu-Ray player, the UHD disc does look better than the Blu-Ray version. The extras include a director's commentary track on the movie, several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a Marvel One-Shot short film starring Lizzy Caplan set after the events of the movie. As is the case with many UHD releases, the UHD disc just has the movie itself and then the regular Blu-Ray has all of the extras. I listened to the commentary track years ago when I purchased the original Blu-Ray release before everything all the allegations about Joss Whedon being a raging asshole came to light. From what I remember it is a pretty standard director's commentary, but I refuse to listen to him talk about anything, but it is there if you want to listen to it.

Overall, the movie is wonderful. I think Marvel did a good job by introducing the characters in stand-alone films first and getting the origin stories for most of them (all but Black Widow and Hawkeye) out of the way and developed (at least to an extent) before they started doing the big team-up movies. It seemed like the cast had great chemistry, and worked well together. Of course, the big casting change from the prior movies was the fact that Mark Ruffalo was brought in to play Bruce Banner/Hulk, replacing Edward Norton who seemingly wore out his welcome very quickly when filming The Incredible Hulk. Even though Ruffalo was kind of shoe-horned in, given that this was the first movie in which all of the major actors worked together, it worked out well. The movie is, as you can imagine, mostly an action movie, but does have some comedy and even drama mixed in. It also started the tradition of having both a mid-credits scene that advances the storyline (this one introducing the "big bad" of the initial phases of the MCU, and a post-credits scene that is meant to be more fun or tie back into the movie you just watched. So, if you are a fan of superhero movies, this one is definitely worth watching and pays off on the prior movies quite well.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Thor

 

Thor is, if you are watching the MCU movies in release order, the fourth movie released after Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2. If you are watching the movies in chronological order, it is the sixth coming after Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and The Incredible Hulk. It tells the origin story of Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and his brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston). The movie actually opens on Earth where an astrophysicist named Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) and Dr. Salvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard) are tracking astronomical anomalies (along with their work-study student worker Darcy, played wonderfully by Kat Dennings who steals nearly every scene she is in) hits Thor with their van when Thor is exiled from Asgard. Then the movie flashes back to show what led up to Thor's banishment, and when the movie comes back to Earth, what we get is in part a fish-out-of-water story, in part a love story, and in part a story of a superpowered frat boy becoming a hero.

For those who get the 4K Blu-Ray set, there are two discs, a UHD disc with just the movie itself, and then a regular Blu-Ray disc with the special features. The movie looks very good and sounds great. People who are true videophiles who really pay attention to grain and black levels probably will not find the video quality as good as it is for the later movies, but most people will find it a step up from the Blu-Ray, especially with the Asgard colors and the New Mexico landscape. The extras are all ported over from the initial DVD/Blu-Ray release, and include a great commentary track on the movie with director Kenneth Branagh and then there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that range from a couple of minutes to just under twenty minutes. Then, there is a Marvel one-shot that sets up the end scene of The Incredible Hulk and how Tony Stark was selected to go visit General Ross, the theatrical trailers, and a trailer for the new Avengers Animated movie. There is also a short look at the Avengers movie which was in production at the time Thor was released.

Overall, the movie is really good. It has a great blend of comedy, action, and drama, with a little bit of romance between Thor and Jane, mixed in (but that is kept on the backburner for the most part and does not get too over the top). The supporting cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Renee Ruso, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Jamie Alexander, and Colm Feore is great, and the movie expanded the role of Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson even more than it was expanded in Iron Man 2. The post-credits scene (this was in the days when there was not both a mid-credits and post-credits scene) set up both Captain America (which was the next movie in release order) and the storyline of The Avengers. Hemsworth did a great job in the role and got absolutely jacked for it, really looking the part of a god-like hero. It is definitely a movie worth watching and the 4k disc is worth the upgrade.

4k-UHD/Movie Box Set Review: The Godfather Trilogy

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the movies. I assume most people reading this have already seen the movies, so if you have not and care about spoilers, you have been warned.++++

This is the latest and probably the last, restoration that The Godfather series of films is likely to ever get, given the age of the movie and the fact that physical media is being phased out. My guess is that anyone interested in getting the set has seen the movies multiple times, so this will have minor spoilers in it. Of course, this is the trilogy of three movies, two of which are definitely iconic and one that is pretty divisive, that tells of the rise and fall of the fictional Corleone crime family. There are a couple of different sets, one that just has the discs (which is the one I have) and one that comes with a commemorative book. The set I have has four folding cases that have the UHD discs (one for each movie) and one for the older versions of Part III and the bonus disc, which is a regular Blu-Ray disc and contains all of the special features.

The first disc is The Godfather Part I (set between 1945 and 1955), which starred Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duval, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, and Al Pachino. That movie basically tells the story of an aging Don (played by Brando) and the war between the "five families" (the various heads of the NY mafia) that is set off by Vito Corleone's refusal to expand his family into the drug trade. At the end of the ten-year period depicted in the movie, his son Michael (Pachino) who initially wants nothing to do with the family business has taken over and proven himself to be as or even more ruthless than his father.

The second disc contains The Godfather: Part II (set in 1958-1959) sees the Corleone family headquartered in Lake Tahoe, and set to take over pretty much all the casinos in Nevada (despite Michael's insistence in the first movie that the family would be completely legitimate in five years). The movie jumps back and forth between the story of Vito's rise to power (starring Robert De Niro taking the role of Vito in his early 30s) and a plot to take out Michael, similar to the plot to take out Brando's Vito in the first movie. The intertwining of the father-son storyline is done very well, and the end of the movie again displays Michael's ruthless nature as he wipes out all his enemies.

The third disc contains the recently reconfigured Part III, which is titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, which is set (mostly) in 1979, and details the final days of Michael as a gangster as he tries to finally get the family out of the life. He keeps getting pulled in however by another plot to take him out and his hot-headed nephew's (Vincent; Sonny's illegitimate son with the fugly bridesmaid in the original movie; played by Andy Garcia) desire for revenge. This version of the movie basically changes the beginning, so the plot involving the church and the real estate corporation is introduced first (which is an alternate scene in the original "Coppola restoration" that was released a handful of years ago on Blu-Ray, and then has an alternate version of Michael's letter to the kids (I think in large part so that the shot of the Twin Towers could be removed from the opening sequence) inviting them to the party. Then some of the scenes are extended a bit and the ending is changed so we do not see Michael's literal death, and it has a more metaphorical meaning. The movie still has the same story and has the same issues the original cut had, mostly the fact that a 19-year-old Sofia Coppola (who did not want to be in the movie in the first place) was cast after the actress that was likely to be offered the role was killed and Wynona Ryder backed out, to play a mid-twenties, Mary. And, even more than Sofia's acting (which was not great) was the horrible writing for her character that made a mid-twenties woman sound like a teenage girl pining after her first love.

The fourth disc (also a UHD disc) has both the theatrical version and the 1991 re-release version of Part III (which are nearly identical aside from a couple of scenes including the one in which Al and Connie give Vincent the go-ahead to take Zaza out. All of the versions of Part III really focus on Michael's guilt over the things he has done, especially having Fredo killed, and his attempt to seek redemption. Part III is definitely not as good as parts I or II, regardless of which version you watch. I do not think there was a huge need to see Michael's literal death in 1997 like we do in the theatrical and 1991 versions, but seeing him die alone to end the series is as the culmination of all his mistakes did make a powerful point. But, just knowing he ends up alone makes that point. None of the versions of Part III is as bad as those who shit on it make it seem, but I think anything they did with the story would have been hard-pressed to match the first two movies. 

The fifth disc has all the special features. There are several features that specifically discuss the restoration process for the 4k-UHD discs. It is interesting to see the comparison between the various home video releases over the years and how the UHD quality blows even the last Blu-Ray restoration out of the water. The rest of the extras are the legacy features that were put together for the original DVD and Blu-Ray releases. So, there are hours of bonus material a lot of it very interesting, including the behind-the-scenes feature that was made about the time Part III was filmed in which Francis Coppola discusses the fight with Paramount's executives to get the first movie made. Apparently, the Paramount executives did not want Brando cast at all (presumably because Brando was a pretty notorious pain in the ass by that point) and wanted anyone but Pachino to play Michael. It was very interesting to hear how Coppola fought to make the movie he wanted to make and was followed by a "backup" director when making the first movie who was ready to step in if he was fired. 

Really, the only thing that you do not get with this set is the commentary track on Part III that was included in the original DVD release (I cannot remember if that set also had commentary tracks on Parts I and II, but if so, those are not included either), or the cut of the movie in which Part I and Part II are put in chronological order. Some people think watching it that way is almost blasphemous. As one who has seen both chronological cuts on VHS years ago (there is one with just Parts I and II, and one with Parts I-III, and each has different scenes included in them) I think they are worth watching, but it tells a slightly different story. The chronological cut is more about the rise and fall of the family overall while watching the theatrical versions show the rise and fall of Michael as contrasted with the fall and rise of Vito. 

At any rate, this set has nearly everything about the movies that you could possibly want. The A/V quality of the 4k restoration is wonderful. The colors pop more than ever and the contrasts with the black background in the really dark scenes look as good as it ever has on any home-video release. So, even if you have purchased the VHS, DVD, and/or Blu-Ray sets. this is worth the double, triple, or quadruple dip.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ghostbusters Afterlife

 

When comparing this movie to the 2016 female-led Ghostbusters movie, the line from Batman Forever, "Your entrance was good--his was better", comes to mind. While I think the 2016 movie gets unfairly ragged on, this is how an updated Ghostbusters movie should be done.

This movie, unlike the other one, is a direct continuation of the 1984 original movie and the 1989 sequel and has a ton of easter eggs that tie into things from both of those movies. The basic storyline is that Egon packed up all of the Ghostbusters equipment and moved from NY to Summerville Oklahoma. This caused a rift with the other Ghostbusters that was really never repaired. We find out that Egon did have a family, including his daughter Callie (played by Carrie Coon) and grandchildren Phoebe (played by McKenna Grace) and Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard). Upon Egon's death, the family moves to his farm in Summerville and the rest of the story plays out from there. I will not spoil anything about the rest of the plot, but it is directly tied to the original movie and there are many parallels to that story. Where the original movie was more of a straight comedy with some action, this one is more of a dramedy with a lot of action spaced throughout.

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the UHD format. The movie has a ton of great special effects that are a mix of CGI and practical that looks seamless even in UHD, and there is a lot of great cinematography. The UHD disc has the movie and about 15 minutes worth of preview trailers that play before the movie. Then, there is a regular Blu-Ray disc that has the movie and the rest of the extras on it. These include several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a discussion of the impact of the original movie by Ivan Reitman, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray, a featurette on the various easter eggs in the movie to tie back to the original films, and a single deleted scene.

Overall, the movie is very, very good, and a perfect sequel to the original movies. It was written and directed by Jason Reitman, who is the son of the director of the original movie, and he made a wise choice to bring back as many of the creators of the original movie as he could. The movie does include all of the living cast members from the original movies (aside from Rick Moranis who had retired from acting) in either cameo or extended cameo roles. And, the movie was able to include Harold Ramis, who of course passed away in 2014, in a couple of different ways, one of which worked well and the other which was a bit corny but did have some emotional punch. The bulk of the story involved the new characters. McKenna Grace (who is best known for her roles in the movie Gifted and the series Designated Survivor and Young Sheldon) was really the star of the movie, but all of the cast members, both main and supporting, did a great job. Paul Rudd was awesome as a teacher at the elementary school in Summerville who was not really interested in teaching, Logan Kim was equally awesome as Podcast, and Celeste O'Connor did a very good job as Lucky Domingo). The rest of the supporting cast included Oliva Wilde, Josh Gad, Bokeem Woodbine, and J.K. Simmons in a small role. Not only does the movie provide a lot of nostalgia for those of us who were kids when the original movie came out, but it tells a good story of its own. There are mid and post-credits scenes, one that plays for comedic effect and the other that sets up the possibility of further movies. If you are a fan of the original movie this is a must-watch.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

 

The Incredible Hulk was the second movie released in what would become the massive MCU. Iron Man had been a big hit, but it was not at all clear that the MCU would evolve into the huge franchise that it ultimately become. This movie, both in tone and in terms of the cast feels very disconnected from the rest of the MCU. This movie starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and co-starred Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (who would be the only actor from the cast to be included in the rest of the MCU), and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky a commando that General Ross brings in to capture Banner. The movie eschews that typical origin story, showing everything the audience needs to know about the set-up in the opening credits. Then we see Bruce hiding in Brazil trying to find a way to cure himself of The Hulk. I will not spoil the rest of the movie for anyone who has not seen it, but it is a good blend of action and drama and ends in a huge monster fight at the end of the movie.

For those who get the 4k disc, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. It is a definite upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray version. The cinematography really pops, especially the landscape in Brazil, in the UHD format. This is a two-disc set. The UHD disc just has the movie, which can be played with the commentary track with director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth. The commentary is pretty good, but Leterrier and Roth do tend to go off on a lot of tangents. The rest of the extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc, and those include an alternate opening sequence, about 40-minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes, a 30-minute making-of documentary, and four other featurettes that range from just over six minutes to just under thirty minutes. There are also several u-control interactive features. So, if you like going through bonus features, this gives you a lot.

While the movie does get shit on a lot, it is much better than it gets credit for. I personally like it better than the Ang Lee version of The Hulk, which had only been released a handful of years prior to this one. The CGI had come a long way since that movie, and the CGI Hulk looked a lot more realistic. Of course, there was still a debate going on whether they should CGI The Hulk or use a real actor, a-la Lou Ferrigno from the TV series. Using a CGI Hulk works a lot better (in my opinion) because they can actually make him nine feet tall and do not have to shoot him from below or with a special lens to make the actor look bigger as they did with Ferrigno. The movie has a lot of easter eggs that reference the TV series from the Danger sign, the "lonely man" theme, a reference to David Banner, and more. Lou Ferrigno had a small cameo (as well as being able to voice The Hulk, which he did not do in the TV series), and they found a way to include Bill Bixby (who of course had passed away by the time the movie was made) for a split second. 

Marvel was definitely still finding its legs with this movie. There was not a post-credits scene, but the final scene of the movie did act to further the MCU storyline. If you watch the movies in chronological order, this is actually the fifth movie in the sequence behind, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Iron Man 2. In release order, this was the second movie that was released later the same year as Iron Man, and it was not a foregone conclusion that The Avengers story arc would ever pan out. Personally, I like Norton's portrayal of Banner more than I like Ruffalo in the role. Not that Ruffalo is bad, but I just think Norton's version is better. Rumors have it that Norton was a huge pain in the ass during the production of the movie, including insisting on making his own re-writes, which ultimately led to him being replaced. Obviously, the MCU survived without him, but I would have liked him to stay in the role. The movie was clearly setting up a sequel that never panned out, and at this point probably never will. But, if you have seen the trailer for She-Hulk, you know Tim Roth is being brought back in some capacity, so it is possible that more characters can be brought back. It is probably the most overlooked MCU movie, but it is very good and worth watching.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Iron Man 2

 

Iron Man 2 is, if you are watching the movies in chronological order, the fourth movie in the timeline after Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain Marvel, and the first Iron Man. In release order, it was the third movie released after the original Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. The movie is set six months down the line from Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" revelation. We find out early in the movie that the palladium that he is using to power the arc reactor in his chest is killing him, so part of the movie is about Tony trying to find a solution to that, and the other part of the movie involves the main bad guy, Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, whose father worked with Tony's father Howard Stark to develop the arc reactor and was fired from Stark Industries without getting credit. Vanko tries to get revenge against Tony and becomes the villain Whiplash in the process.

The big casting change in the movie was replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle playing Rhody, and the addition of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (who is introduced as Natalie, an assistant at Stark Industries). The movie also brings back Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau, both as the director and playing Happy Hogan, and brings in Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, a second-rate weapons developer who is trying to fill the void left by Stark Industries no longer developing weapons for the military. It also expands the roles of Coulson and Nick Fury from the small role for Coulson and the post-credits cameo for Fury in the first movie.

The 4k Transfer on the movie is good, but not extraordinary. It is an upgrade from the original Blu-Ray and better than the transfer that the first Iron Man film got in its 4k-UHD release, but it is not as good a transfer as other movies have gotten, which is disappointing given that the movie was shot on digital and while it is about 12 years old now, is not ancient. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by Favreau and a SHIELD data vault that can play the movie with pop-ups that will provide additional information on some of the scenes. The video clips can be watched separately as well. Then there is an interactive picture and text gallery that gives bios on characters from Iron Man and Hulk and SHEILD reports on the events from the three movies. Then there are previs and animatics that can be played in a picture-in-picture mode during the movie. NOTE that not all of the extras from the original Blu-ray release are included on this. It does not have the making-of documentary or deleted scenes. So, you will want to keep your original Blu-Ray release if you got that one if you want all of the extras.

The commentary track is one of the better DVD commentaries that touches on not only the process of making the movie but the giving hints about the larger MCU story (as much as he could divulge anyway). He also made what, at the time, was a prophetic statement about the fact that streaming would overtake DVD and that only collectors would get movies on physical discs (which is basically where things are at now).

Overall, the movie is very good. It is not as good as the original, but a worthy follow-up. Robert Downey Jr. continues to nail the role of Tony Stark, playing him with the right amount of narcissism and evolving hero. Rockwell does a great job, and Gary Shandling has an awesome extended cameo role. The movie also sets up the next movie in the sequence (especially in the post-credits scene) expanding the ever-evolving MCU.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Iron Man

 

While, by 2008, there had been other superhero movies like Spiderman and the original Fantastic Four movies made and relatively successful, this is the first movie in what would become a 20+ movie and counting franchise of movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has dominated not only the superhero movie genre but really the movie landscape as a whole for more than a decade.

The movie is the origin story of Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and his superhero alter-ego, Iron Man. Stark is an ultra-rich, ultra-smart, and sometimes too smooth for his own good, tech genius. He is the head of Stark Industries which is basically a weapons developer that makes weapons for the military and anyone who is the highest bidder. After a demonstration of his newest missile technology for the military in a fictitious middle-eastern country, the convoy he is in is attacked and he is taken, prisoner and forced to make a missile for a group of terrorists. Instead of making them a missile, he develops the first Iron Man suit, breaks out, and upon being rescued, he determines to take the company in a new direction and develop a better suit that he can use to fight bad guys.

The movie has a great supporting cast including Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Tony's assistant and potential love interest, Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, Tony's friend and military liaison, Jon Favreau whom both directed the movie and played Happy Hogan, Tony's driver, Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, a partner in Stark Industries, Leslie Bibb as reported Christine Everhart, Paul Bettany as the voice of Jarvis, Tony's artificially intelligent assistant, and Clark Gregg, as Phil Coulson.

For those who get the 4k Disc, the movie looks very good in the UHD format, but it does not get as good a video upgrade as some of the other movies have. It is probably not something you would likely notice unless you are a big-time A/V wonk, but it is not a giant video upgrade over the Blu-Ray disc. The audio upgrade to Dolby Atmos is wonderful and the movie sounds great even if you have a modest sound system. For extras, they are somewhat sparse. There is a Hall of Armor interactive gallery with details about the different versions of the Iron Man suits in the movie, about 23 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, and a six different featurettes under the title "The Invincible Iron Man" that can be played all together at one time, that is essentially an hour-long documentary on the history of the character in the comics. It is important to note, that when the movie was originally released on Blu-Ray, it was released in various retailer exclusives that had different bonus content. None of that exclusive content was brought over to this one, so if you have a retailer exclusive Blu-Ray then you will want to keep that one as well (if the extras are important to you).

Overall, the movie is great. Had the movie not worked, there probably never would have been an MCU, and at the time, casting Robert Downey Jr. as essentially in the lead role of not only this movie but the leader of many of the movies that would come after that was a huge risk given his history of drug abuse.. You can tell that he took the role (and the movie) very seriously, and was perfectly cast for the role of Tony Stark. But really, all of the actors did a wonderful job in their roles, whether large or small. I highly recommend the movie if you are a fan of action and/or superhero movies. Whether it is worth the double-dip to upgrade from the Blu-Ray (assuming you purchased the Blu-Ray when it was first released on disc) is hard to say. If you have a great home-theater setup (or plan to build one) then it probably is. If not, the regular Blu-Ray is probably fine.

4KUHD/Movie Review: The Batman

 

The Batman is yet another live-action take on Batman, yet one that is much different than what has come before. This film forgoes doing the origin story that has been done multiple times and jumps into Batman's second year as a vigilante. He is working with Lieutenant Gordon who brings him in to investigate a series of murders involving high-ranking Gotham officials, with the killer leaving riddles for Batman at the scene of each kill. The story is much more of an origin story for the rogue's gallery of villains and is adapted heavily from the year one and year two comics.

The casting of the movie was (as always) controversial with Robert Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoe Kravits playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano playing The Riddler, Collin Farrell playing Penguin, Jeffrey Wright playing Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis playing Alfred, and John Turturro playing Carmine Falcone. Of course, Pattinson's casting was a subject of much debate (as has most every casting choice for Batman since Keaton landed the role in the late 1980s). Pattinson was best known for his roles in the Twilight series (which even he admits were not that good) and as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. I think most people complaining about his casting either were not aware of his other work, in which he has shown his acting chops or just liked to complain. But, he, and the rest of the cast, did a great job with their characters. Farrell was unrecognizable both in look and voice as Penguin (he was really just a secondary character in the movie) and Dano, who to this point was probably best known as a side character in the movie Girl Next Door and from his role in There Will be Blood, was awesome as The Riddler. And, Barry Keoghan was great in his minute or so at the end clearly playing an early version of The Joker (but credited as being the unseen Arkham inmate).

The movie looks and sounds great in UHD. The 4K set is actually a three-disc set. The UHD disc and one of the regular Blu-Ray discs just has the movie itself, and the second regular Blu-Ray disc has all the special features and extras. The extras include several short behind-the-scenes featurettes that range from a couple of minutes to about 10 minutes in length. The main feature is an almost hour-long making-of documentary which spans pretty much the entire filming process and shows how the covid pandemic really impacted how the film was made. Then there are a couple of deleted scenes that you can watch with or without director commentary.

Overall, the movie is great. I do think it is a bit long and could have been cut down for time. That said, I think most of the scenes that did end up in the final cut of the film worked, so aside from a couple of scenes at the very end of the film, I think it would have been hard to pick what to remove. I like the fact that Batman is not yet fully formed in this movie and he is still trying to figure out how to be Batman, without really caring about being Bruce Wayne. It is also interesting to see him operate out in the daylight while literally carrying the Batsuit around in a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. The movie has a feel that is much more similar to Nolan's trilogy of movies than it does to the Burton or Schumacher movies, without being a carbon copy of what Nolan did with his. The movie has an old-school film noir crime/detective story feel to it and is extremely well-acted. Definitely worth watching and investing in the disc for those who still get the physical discs.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Captain Marvel

 

Captain Marvel is a much better movie than it gets credit for. The movie is set in 1995 and serves as an origin story not only for Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, but also for Fury, to some extent Coulson, and the entire Avenger initiative. At the beginning of the movie, we see Danvers (played by Brie Larson) already with her powers believing herself to be a member of the Kree race and fighting a war with a race of beings called the Skrulls, whom she believed had her memory erased. After a battle with the Skrulls, she ends up on Earth and meets Nick Fury, played of course by ‎Samuel L. Jackson, who was de-aged using CGI, who is at that time just a grunt SHEILD officer. Then the movie is about Carol regaining her memory and figuring out how powerful she really is. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace (making a cameo appearance as Ronan), Annette Bening, and Clark Gregg (who is also de-aged using CGI).

If you watch the MCU movies in chronological order, this one is the second movie in the sequence after the first Captain America. If you watch them in release order, it was the twenty-first movie and the one that comes just before Avengers Endgame. In some ways, the storyline makes more sense if you watch them chronologically, but on the other hand, this movie was really meant to be a flashback after the storyline and characters were established to see how everything started. So, watching it second without all the other movies to set it up I do think takes something away from it. Plus, the mid-credits scene only makes sense if you have seen Infinity War first, and without seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan does not have as much gravitas as he is intended to have.

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then all the other extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. There are about 25 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, about 10 minutes of deleted scenes, a short gag reel, and then a commentary track on the movie by the directors. What was included was okay, but it definitely does not has as many extras as some of the other movies received.

As I said above, the movie is better than it gets credit for, and a lot of the shit it gets is undeserved. It has a good mix of action and humor, with bits of drama mixed in as well. Larson and Jackson have great chemistry and really seem to enjoy working together, and the supporting cast all did a great job no matter how large or small their role is. The beginning of the movie also had great dedication to Stan Lee who passed away after the movie was shot but before it was released. And, it features a great 1990s soundtrack which will definitely give anyone who grew up in the 90s a major jolt of nostalgia. It does go a bit overboard on the girl-power thing in a couple of spots, but I don't think it is worth getting apoplectic over like some of the reviewers seem to. Those who think Larson's acting was wooden do not get that the character was written the way she played her, and why the character was written the way it was. Nor do they appreciate the dry humor, which Larson nails perfectly. While I would not say it was the best of the MCU movies, it is also do not think that it is the worst. Of course, that is totally subjective and there is a wide range of opinions on the quality. I definitely recommend it.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

 

This is the first movie in the MCU timeline if you want to watch the movies in chronological order and the fifth if you watch them in release order (after Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man II, and Thor). It tells the story of Steve Rodgers, a short scrawny kid who wants nothing more than to enlist in the army and fight for the United States in World War II. The problem is that he is about 5'5", 100 pounds soaking wet, and has asthma. After getting rejected time after time trying to sign up, he meets a doctor (played by Stanley Tucci) who developed a super-soldier serum and is looking for a worthy candidate to test it on. After Steve proves himself to be heroic during basic training he is given the serum and transforms into a six-foot-tall muscle-bound super-powered hero.

The film sports a great ensemble cast including Tommy Lee Jones (who brings his awesome dry humor as the unit commander Chester Phillips), Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Hugo Weaving as the main villain, Red Skull, Dominic Cooper as a young Howard Stark, Sebastian Stan as Steve's best friend Bucky Barnes, and Toby Jones as Arnim Zola. Some of those characters, as anyone who has watched the movies and/or various TV series, would go on to have roles that were expanded well beyond what they are in this movie, and for other characters, this movie was a one-off. It is mostly an action movie, as you would expect, but also blends in drama, romance, and a lot of humor. Evans does a great job playing a goody-two-shoes character but giving him depth beyond just being a do-gooder. Atwell does a great job as Agent Carter, and Hugo Weaving pretty much steals every scene he is in.

For those who get the 4k UHD set, the movie looks and sounds great in the format, especially if you have a big screen to watch it on. The picture is definitely an upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then the second disc is the same regular Blu-Ray disc that was released before, which has the movie and the extras. The extras include a commentary track on the film by the director and the editor, then it has several making-of featurettes, the most interesting of which was, in my opinion, how they used a blend of CGI and practical effects to make Chris Evans look five inches shorter than he is in real life and emaciated at the beginning of the movie. There is also a "one-shot" which is basically a short film that features Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) as he is on the way to the site where Thor's Hammer is discovered. Then there are some deleted scenes and trailers. So, if you like watching the bonus content, there is a lot there for you.

The movie is very good and does a great job establishing the character of Captain America who, of course, is integral to every other movie that comes after it. If you watch this movie first it will make some things in other movies, namely the stand-alone Hulk movie, make more sense, but the post-credits scene which sets up The first Avengers movie will feel out of place. The 4K disc will probably be a double-dip for a lot of people who had already purchased the Blu-Ray, but I think the upgrade is worth it.

4KUHD/Movie Review: Dune

 

There are some that have dubbed this the best sci-fi movie of all time. I would not go that far, but it is a very good movie and looks visually stunning. I cannot really compare it to the David Lynch version since I was pretty young when that one came out, and have only seen a few minutes of it on TV, but this version is very good. For those who are not familiar with the story, it is adapted from the famous 1960s novel by Frank Herbert. The story is centered around the members of House Atreides, headed by Leto Atreides (played by Oscar Issac), who is the Duke of the ocean planet Caladan, Leto is tasked by Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, who is essentially the ruler of a system of planets, to take over the desert planet Arrakis, which is the only planet on which the substance spice, which is critical for interstellar travel, among other things, is produced. House Atreides is replacing House Harkonnen as the rulers of Arrakis which results in the members of House Harkonnen hatching a plot to take out the members of House Atreides, including Leto's son Paul who is fated to become a leader of humanity. This is the first of two movies covering approximately the first half of the book.

The movie has a very strong cast including the aforementioned Oscar Issac and also stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, and Javier Bardem. Some of the actors, especially Zendaya and Bardem have smaller roles in this movie and will very likely have larger roles in part two.

For those who get the 4k Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc just has the movie and the regular Blu-Ray disc has all the bonus features. There are great visuals not only of the desert planet but the scenes set in space and the few scenes set on the planet Caladan. The extras include several making-of-and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a feature on the various houses, a feature on creating the sandworms, deleted scenes, and more. All-in-all, over an hour's worth of extras. Some of the bonus material is a bit repetitive, but it is good if you like watching the extras.

Overall, the movie is very good. I cannot say how close it does or does not follow the book, since I have never read the book. But, I can say it is very well acted and it is a good mix of action and drama. The effects are a combination of practical effects and CGI. The CGI looks seamless and does not dominate the movie to the detriment of the overall story, the acting, etc. It is paced fairly well with the action scenes breaking up the slower scenes. If you like Sci-Fi movies this is definitely worth seeing.

4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: No Time to Die

 

Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Michael G. Wilson, Lashana Lynch, Jeffrey Wright, Neal Purvis, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Ben Whishaw, Robert Wade, Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli

No Time to Die is the 25th overall Bond film and the final film in which Daniel Craig will be in the title role. As has been the case for all of Craig's films, this one is tied in with all the others and is a direct sequel to Spectre. While Christoph Waltz does return as Blofeld, the main villain of the movie is Safin, played by Rami Malek, who has a direct tie to Madeline Swann (again played by Lea Seydoux). In fact, the opening sequence of this movie does not involve Bond at all but shows the death of Madaline's mother when Madeline was a little girl. Then the movie jumps to the present where at Madaline's urging Bond visits Vesper's tomb in an attempt to get closure. He is ambushed by Spectre agents which sets off the big opening action scene. Of course, he survives and the movie does a five-year time jump at which point everything else plays out. 

The main plot involves the use of nanobots which can be used to kill specific people or even millions of people, which is what Safin intends to use them for. Bond has to take down Safin, but like everything comes with a price. All of the main cast returns for this installment, Including Jeffrey Wright. Ralph Fiennes, and Naomi Harris. Lashana Lynch is introduced as the newest 00, even taking up the 007 designation when Bond is retired. Ana De Armas is introduced as Poloma, a CIA agent operating in Cuba. She definitely fits the "Bond Girl" model, including the dress they had her fighting in. She was not in the movie for long, but the time she was in it was definitely memorable. I will not spoil anything, but as you can imagine not every character makes it out unscathed, but it is made clear that Bond will return in some form down the line. 

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. And, all of the bonus features are included on the UHD disc and start playing immediately after the credits if you let the credits roll all the way to the end. The longest of the bonus features is a 45 minute or so retrospective on Craig's Bond from the controversy regarding the announcement that he got the role to his last day on set during No Time to Die. Then there are a few shorter featurettes on the making of the movie. Not a ton of bonus material, but what was included was good.

Overall, I really liked the movie. I think it was a fitting end to this era of the Bond franchise, and leaves open the possibility of a hard reboot of the franchise or continuing with at least some of the characters that were introduced in the last few movies. It is definitely worth watching even if you are a casual Bond fan, or just want to watch a good action movie.