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.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 1

 

The Flash is the first show spun off from the series Arrow, creating what has come to be called the Arrowverse. It had a backdoor pilot in season two of Arrow, introducing Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) who at that time had no powers and was just a CSI for the Central City police department who was also trying to solve the murder of his mother (who was killed when he was a young boy) and to free his father from prison. The actual pilot episode gives the backstory of the death of Barry's mother and why the police believed his father, Henry (who is played by John Wesley Shipp, who also played The Flash in the 1990s series). The pilot establishes that Barry gets his powers because of an accident at the nearby Star Labs in which a particle accelerator explodes, which has ramifications throughout the season. As Barry discovers his powers, he is aided by the Star Labs staff including Dr. Harrison Wells (played by Tom Cavanagh), Cisco Ramon (played by Carlos Valdes), and Caitlin Snow (played by Danielle Panabaker). We also learn that Barry was taken in by Joe West, a detective at the CCPD (played by Law and Order's Jesse L. Martin), and raised basically as his son. We also learn that Barry is in love with Joe's daughter Iris (played by Candice Patton) who is engaged to another Central City cop, Eddie Thawne (played by Rick Cosnett).

As most of the Arrowverse shows are, The Flash is a mix of a case-of-the-week procedural (in the Flash's case kind of like the "freak of the week" ala Smallville) in which different people who got powers because of the particle accelerator explosion (called Metahumans) have to be tracked down by the team, and a serial with a large story arc that plays throughout the season. That arc is the mystery of the murder of Barry's mom, which has a lot of twists and turns that are slowly revealed throughout the season. There is a Big Bad of the season, but who it is (although chances are most people reading this by now know) is a huge reveal that is not apparent until well into the season. There is also the first crossover with the parent series Arrow, in which a storyline starts on Flash and finishes on Arrow. Besides the crossover, characters from Arrow make other appearances on the show throughout the season. By the end of the season, some of the storylines are wrapped up, and others are revealed as the season ends on a huge cliffhanger going into season two.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD. There are a lot of extras including a Commentary by Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and DC Comics' Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns for the pilot episode, about 35-minutes of deleted scenes spread across all the discs, a feature called Behind the Story: The Trickster Returns! that runs just under nine minutes, about the original series; a making-of/behind-the-scenes featurette titled The Fastest Man Alive (30:39/HD), a neat history of the character. You also get Creating the Blur: The VFX of The Flash that runs about a half an hour, a feature on Emily Bett Rickards and Grant Gustin's chemistry together, a half-hour long feature on the DC Comics Night at the 2014 Comic-Con 2014, and a Gag Reel that runs about eight minutes. So, a lot there if you like the extras.

Overall, this is a very strong season for the show. It has a much different tone than Arrow and really stands on its own as a show despite leaning on the characters from Arrow from time to time. It also has several nice tie-ins with the original Flash series using John Wesley Shipp, but also using Amanda Pays as Tina McGee (who also starred in the 1990s series) and Mark Hamill as The Trickster. Season One also introduces characters that will have much larger roles in the Arrowverse down the line. It is definitely worth watching if you are a fan of superhero shows like Smallville (which was really the predecessor to all the CW Superhero shows) and Arrow. It is well written and very well acted, and worth the time to check out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major season three spoilers+++

Season three of Arrow picks up down the line from the season 2 finale in which Slade is defeated and Malcolm Merlin is revealed to be alive and helped Thea escape from the Mirakuru-enhanced army. Oliver and Felicity attempt to date, but to throw the obvious wrench into the relationship to keep them apart as long as possible, Oliver tells her that he cannot be The Arrow and be normal at the same time. This, along with the introduction of Ray Palmer (played by Superman Returns' Brandon Routh) as both a personal and business rival for Oliver, provides a bunch of hurdles. The serial arc of the season involves a mystery about Sarah Lance (the recast Caity Lotz) who was revealed during season two to have survived the shipwreck and joined the League of Assassins. The League, and their leader Ra's al Ghul (played by Matt Noble). The season also makes heavy use of flashbacks, telling the story of Oliver's time on (and as we discover this season, off) the island before his rescue in season one. The flashback sequence also is used as a way to have Tommy Merlin (the guest starring Collin Donnell) return in one of the early episodes of the season. This season also sees the first of what would become numerous crossovers with the newly minted Arrowverse show, The Flash (which had a backdoor pilot episode during season two of Arrow). There is the official two-episode crossover that starts in an episode of The Flash and ends in the Arrow episode. And, Barry Allen/Flash (Grant Gustin) makes an appearance in the season finale to help the team out.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the A/V quality kind of bounced between good and great. Some scenes look extremely good in HD, and others do show some noise and grain. But honestly, unless you are a real video wonk, you will probably not notice it. There are commentary tracks on two episodes, including the midseason finale which has a huge cliffhanger at the end of it, 15-minutes of deleted scenes, a half-hour-long segment of the Comic-Con panel, and a short gag reel. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a decent amount there for you.

Overall, the season is very good. It continues to be a very dark show that has a lot of violence, some sex, and is not shy about killing off characters. The writers do a good job juggling the very large ensemble cast, giving all of the characters some depth and continuing to develop them. One of the best episodes of the season shows a younger Felicity in her college hacktivist days, and fleshing out her backstory and giving insight into how she has changed from that time to her time on Team Arrow. Emily Bett Rickards pretty much steals every scene she is in, and is one of the few characters on the show that is not dark and brooding. As much as the DC Movie Universe has been panned, the DC TV Universe gets a lot right, and provides for a lot of compelling stories, with Arrow being at the forefront. So, if you liked the first couple of seasons, then you will probably like or love this season as well.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Gotham: Season 1

 

The first season of Gotham included 22 episodes that aired during the 2014-2015 TV season. The story of Bruce Wayne/Batman has been told countless multiple times in live-action. In most versions, we see the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne in front of a young Bruce Wayne and then flash forward to his decision to become Batman (or once he is Batman). Of course, that pretty much has to be done in the movies so you can have an actual Batman movie. None of the movies or TV shows have told the story of what happened to Bruce as he was growing up, until now. Gotham is an origin story for Gotham City itself as well as the villains whom Batman would ultimately come to face when he grew up. The easy comparison to make is to Smallville, which showed a teenage Clark Kent before he became Superman. Here, a young Bruce Wayne, played by David Mazouz, has to deal with the trauma of the death of his parents, try to be a kid, and start his journey toward becoming a vigilante with the help of his butler, Alfred (played by Sean Pertwee). The rest of the first season cast included Ben McKenzie, Robin Lord Taylor, Carmen Bicondova, Erin Richards, Morena Caccarin, Cory Michael Smith, Donal Logue, Jada Pinkett Smith, Drew Powell, and had recurring characters including Carol Kane, and Peter Scolari.

The focus of the first season is really on the criminal underworld of Gotham, not controlled by Supervillains but by mobsters staking out their turf and the corrupt police department that largely looks the other way. At this point in the story Jim Gordon (played by The O.C.'s Ben Makenzie) is a rookie detective, paired with a grizzled veteran Harvey Bullock (played by Donal Logue). Bullock is one of the loo the other way cops, who sometimes dabbles in being corrupt, and of course, Gordon refuses to do either. The show is in part a case-of-the-week procedural and also has some serial arcs that play out throughout the season. The large ones this season involve mobsters Fish Mooney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith) who has ambitions beyond being an associate of mob boss Carmine Falcone (played by the recognizable character actor John Doman). We also get the introduction of the iconic bad guys including Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), and Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova ). The show also has a very strong supporting and recurring cast including Morena Baccarin (from Firefly), Erin Richards, Drew Powell, Carol Kane, Peter Scolari, and more. There are also some swerves and misdirection when it comes to some characters. The season ends with a couple of cliffhangers and a couple of reveals that will set up season two and beyond.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD. The show uses a mix of practical and special effects and everything looks seamless. The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. Each disc has deleted scenes for the episodes on that particular disc. All the other extras are on the fourth disc, including a three-part making-of featurette that lasts about a half hour. Then there is a 20-minute feature on designing the look of the series, a 26-minute feature on Penguin, and a 21-minute series of short web featurettes which has more cast interviews. Then there is a DC night at comic-con, a feature that lasts about half an hour and includes material from the other series, Flash, Arrow, and Constantine. Finally, there is a short gag reel.

Overall, the season is very good. Obviously, this is not a Batman show, as David Mazouz was just 12 or 13 when the season was filmed. In fact, while Bruce appeared in every episode, he was not always a focus of the episodes and was often just an ancillary character. While the show was on the air at the same time as Arrow, it was, aside from a blink and you'll miss it Queen Consolidated logo in the pilot, was never established as being in the Arrowverse. In fact, it is not clear exactly what time the show was set in as all of the cars in the show are older but they have cell phones. The show is well written and very well acted, with Mackenzie and Louge doing much of the heavy lifting on the "good guy" side of things. There are definitely some elements from the comics that are incorporated, but the show also aims to tell its own story and not be a carbon copy of any other variations of Batman. It is definitely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1

 

The first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had to do much heavy lifting. First, it had to establish the characters in the TV series, including explaining how Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) survived the events of The Avengers movie in which it was assumed Loki killed him. Then, it was partly a story-of-the-week procedural in which Coulson's team would track down some superpowered individual (or sometimes someone who was just evil) and apprehend them. And then, the show played filler between the MCU movies, with this season having direct ties to Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Hydra storyline from Winter Soldier would play a huge role at the end of the season. So, the show ends up being part procedural and part serial not only with story arcs that extend throughout the season on the show, but cross over with the MCU movies (basically playing clean-up crew after the heroics shown in the movies).

The series stars the aforementioned Clark Gregg and also stars Ming Na (from ER) as Melinda May, a badass S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons expert, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward who is a SHIELD black ops agent, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson an anti-government hacker who Coulson recruits to the team (pretty much against her will), Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, the duo known as Fitzsimmons, who are the science and engineering experts on the team. During the first season, Fitz and Simmons mostly stay in the lab, but their roles expand as the season and the series goes on. Some of the characters from the movies, including Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders), and Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) make appearances and Samuel L. Jackson does appear once as Nick Fury. Bill Paxton and Saffron Burrows also had large recurring roles during the season, as did J. August Richards who is probably best known for his run on the series Angel.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great. It is special effects heavy and the show did a good job making them look as seamless as they do in the movies. The extras include audio commentaries on three of the episodes, a 43-minute feature on how the MCU was built and came to fruition, a 13-minute feature on the show's first Comic-con appearance, and a 17-minute making-of feature about filming locations during the first season. There are a lot of spoilers in the extras, so you definitely want to watch the episodes first (assuming you have not already seen them).

Overall, the season is good. The show has to balance a lot, and I do think it did a good job putting the focus on the characters at hand and did not lean too much on the movies and the larger MCU. Of course, if you follow the series you know that by the end it was pretty much its own animal, and was pretty much ignoring what was going on in the movies, but that was definitely not the case in the first season. The acting was great, even with a cast that included a lot of relatively unknown (at the time) actors and the writers do a good job with all the intersecting storylines. The season ends on a couple of cliffhangers that set up what is to come in season two. So, if you are a fan of the MCU movies, this is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways.+++

Season two of Arrow picks up in the aftermath of the events of the Season 1 finale, with Malcolm's undertaking being successful, but taking Tommy's life. Oliver, having defeated Merlin retreats to the Island, and Laurel relapses into drugs and alcohol after Tommy's death. Diggle and Felicity are trying to find Oliver to convince him to return to Starling City to save Queen Consolidated from a takeover by a woman named Isabel Rochev (played by Firefly's Summer Glau). Moira is in jail awaiting trial for her role in The Undertaking, Quentin has been busted down to beat cop, and Roy is trying to protect The Glades in Oliver's absence. The show continues to be a combination of a procedural story-of-the-week show and a serial multi-arc show. The show continues to alternate between the present and then flashing back to events on the island to show to set up Oliver's origin story. There are several new villains and heroes introduced during the season. While early on it appears that Brother Blood will be the big bad of the season, as things play out, Deathstroke (played by Manu Bennett) is revealed as the real threat to Oliver.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the extras include a recap episode titled "Year One" that summarizes the events of the first season, a 24-minute making-of documentary, about 23-minutes of deleted scenes, a short gag reel, about 25 minutes of the 2013 Comic-Con panel and a couple of shorter featurettes focusing on the stunts and visual effects. So, a good amount if you like going through it.

Overall, the season amps up the action and takes the show in a lot of different directions. It introduces the Arrowverse's version of The Suicide Squad, sets up the League of Assassins, which would be a huge plot throughout the rest of the series, and has a two-part episode that serves as a backdoor pilot for The Flash (which would be added to the Arrowverse the next year), introducing Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdez). The acting and writing for the series are very strong with Manu Bennett and Emily Bett Rickards as standouts this season. Susanna Thompson also does a great job as Moira Queen, especially later in the season. The show is still very violent and does have some sexual content throughout, so it is not something that is going to be suitable for younger kids. If you are a fan of superhero shows and movies, this is definitely a great one and is well 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.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Kick Ass 2

 

This is the sequel to the rather surprising hit movie Kick-Ass, in which a regular kid decided to try and be a superhero, finding out it was not all it was cracked up to be. This movie is set four years after the original with Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (played by Aaron Taylor Johnson) having retired from crime-fighting, but getting the itch and starts to train with Hit-Girl/Mindy Macready(played by Chloë Grace Moretz) to become a real hero. Chris D'Amico (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) whose crime boss father was killed in the first movie takes over his father's empire (calling himself The Motherfucker) and gets a team of bad guys to take out Kick-Ass. The movie then ends up with a team of heroes going against a team of villains.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is very good. The colors are very rich and the effects look great in HD. The extras include a commentary track on the film with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Writer/Director Jeff Wadlow, an alternate opening, a storyboarded version of a "Big Daddy" scene that did not materialize because Nicholas Cage did not return, about 14 minutes worth of deleted scenes, just under an hour of making-of featurettes and a feature on one of Hit Girl's action sequences.

Like the first movie, this one definitely earns its R rating. There is a lot of over-the-top violence, dark humor, and a lot of swearing. Chloë Grace Moretz is really the highlight of the movie, as she was in the first one, and there is a strong supporting cast including, Ian Glen, Jim Carrey, Morris Chestnut, Donald Faison, and John Leguizamo. I think what worked for the first movie is that it was so different from much of what was out there, and was more of a tongue-in-cheek movie that was lampooning superhero movies that it really could not recapture what made the first movie so good, especially as the MCU movies were really hitting their stride. That said, it is still a fun action movie, and even though it does not have anywhere near the appeal that the MCU or even the DCEU movies have if you were a fan of the first movie, it is worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 4

 

+++Warning, this will contain mild spoilers from the prior season, but no major giveaways from season 4.+++

Season four ended up being the final season of Lois and Clark. It was not intended to be the final season, but the show was canceled after the season had already aired, so the writers were not able to really give it a proper wrap-up. The season starts with two episodes that resolve the new krypton storyline that acted as the season three cliffhanger and then in the third episode resolves the "fake" wedding from season three. The series mostly keeps the story of the week format, but there are many storylines that play out over the course of two episodes this season. The show does bring back the best villain who is not Lex, Tempus (played wonderfully by Lane Davies), and John Shea does return to voice Lex in a couple of episodes but does not make an in-person appearance. The show also introduces Mxyzptlk (played by Howie Mandel) in the Christmas episode. There are several recognizable guest stars including Delta Burke, Jack Larson (who played Jimmy in the 1950s series), Drew Carey, William Christopher (from M*A*S*H), and Harry Anderson (from Night Court), among others. The series ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that, of course, was never paid off because of the cancelation, so it really does feel incomplete.

For those who get the DVD set, the only extra is a trivia game. There are no behind-the-scenes material or commentary tracks, or any other bonus features similar to what was included in the prior season releases. So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of extras, that is something to keep in mind.

Overall, the season was okay, but not great. Definitely not as good as the first two seasons (which, in my opinion, were the best seasons of the show), or even as good as the third. The ancillary characters like Jonathan, Martha, Perry, and Jimmy were relegated even more to sidekick status than they were originally, and I think the show hurt from the lack of a "main" bad guy. They tried to turn Tempus into that main foil by bringing back Lane Davies multiple times, but I think not having Lex (or someone like Lex) every week causing trouble took something away from the show. Ending the season on a mild cliffhanger was not ideal, but the cliffhanger worked about as good as one in a series finale could. But, it is obvious that the writers intended it to lead into the fifth season. I do think it is worth watching, especially for those of us who were fans when it aired on TV, as long as you temper your expectations for the season knowing that it does not get a proper finale.

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.

DVD/TV Series Review: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 3

 

+++Warning, this will contain spoilers from season two, but no major season three giveaways+++

The third season of Lois and Clark picks up immediately after the screen faded to black at the end of season two, with Clark proposing to Lois. Her answer to the question has reverberations throughout the rest of the season. It is not really a spoiler to say that she does not give an immediate yes or no answer to the question. The season has some self-contained episodes but even those do have some of the serial arcs that run throughout the season. The big one is Lois and Clark's relationship status (of course things cannot go off without a hitch) and then toward the end of the season a version of the "new krypton" storyline in which Clark finds out he is not, in fact, the last Kryptonian. There are a lot of notable guest stars this season including Peter Boyle, Bruce Campbell, Jessica Collins, Julian Stone, Jonathan Frakes, Genie Frances, Shelly Long, Fred Willard, Tony Curtis, and Justine Bateman. This is also the final season in which John Shea physically appears as Lex Luthor, in a multi-episode story arc in the second half of the season. There was a mild controversy during the season about Teri Hatcher cutting her hair (not nearly as big a deal as Kerri Russell cutting her hair during Felicity), that was kind of dumb. Although, I admit that I liked her hair better in the first two seasons than I did the shorter hairstyle.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include a featurette on the romance story between Lois and Clark, a trivia game hosted by Dean Cain, sporting a ridiculous-looking hairdo (speaking of haircuts), which is quite hilarious now that he does everything he can to pass himself off as a buttoned-up conservative commentator, and an excerpt of the documentary "Look, Up in the Sky" that was produced by Bryan Singer and Ken Burns, telling the history of the Superman character that was made when Singer was making Superman Returns. It is a portion of the same documentary that is an extra feature with the Superman Returns DVD and Blu-Ray (and the Superman Collection disc release) and the same except that was included as an extra on one of the Smallville season sets.

Overall, the season is good, but in my opinion, not as good as the prior seasons. I don't think the villains were as good in this season (aside from Tempus, Luther, and the Church gang) as they had been in the earlier seasons, and I think a lot of the tension that the writers were trying to keep in the Lois and Clark relationship (to keep viewers interested) was a bit forced. That said, it was still Superman and was the only live-action superhero show on the air at the time. Because it was on ABC, and trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible to keep ratings up, it is a bit more of a soap opera than it would have been on one of the smaller networks. That said, it is still worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 1, but no major spoilers from the second season+++

Season two of Lois and Clark is, in my opinion, the best season of the series, and definitely, the high point after which the show started to decline. It picks up down the line from the events of the first season finale in which Lex had jumped off his building and Clark told Lois he just wanted to remain friends. Of course, even though John Shea had left as a series regular, Lex was still a presence. Still, there are several episodes that involve him and introduce new characters such as his ex-wife played by Emma Samms, and his doctor played by Denise Crosby. There was more cast turnover with Michael Landes leaving the show as Jimmy and Justin Whalen took over that role. I don't think Whalen did a bad job, but I preferred Landes in the role.

This season also introduced new characters such as The Prankster (played by the wonderful Bronson Pinchot), and Professor Emil Hamilton (played by John Pleshette). One of the best episodes of the show involves H.G.Wells and a fugitive from the future named Tempus who knows that Clark is Superman and involves a trip to the past to save Superman as a baby. There is also a great slate of recognizable guest stars including Raquel Welch, Sherman Hemsley playing the Toymaster, and Isabel Sanford as his assistant, Cindy Williams, Peter Scalari, Melora Hardin, and the great Bruce Campbell. The season ends on a massive cliffhanger that sets up season three.

The DVD extras include a commentary track on the episode "Season's Greedings" by Dean Cain (who also wrote the episode, a making-of featurette on the making of season two, and a featurette about the fans of the series. So, a good amount of material if you like watching the bonus features.

Overall, the season is very good even with some of the cast departures like Landes, Shea, and Tracy Scoggins. To me, Hatcher really carries the show as Lois, even more than Clark/Superman does. Lane Smith is great in pretty much every scene he is in, and K Callan and Eddie Jones are wonderful as Clark's Earth parents. So, if you are a fan of the Superman story, this is definitely worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Season 1

 

Lois and Clark was an attempt in the mid-1990s to revive the Superman character on network television on a major broadcast network (ABC). It starred Dean Cain as Clark Kent and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane and really launched both of their careers. The first season was an origin story for Clark's transition to Superman, beginning with Clark coming to Metropolis and trying to get a shot at The Daily Planet. The show does mix out the story as it is in the comics and was seen in the movies, for example, not using the fortress of solitude, or having Clark "trained" by Jor-EL. The first season does establish Lex as the main villain (played wonderfully by John Shea) and has a great supporting cast including Lane Smith as an Elvis-loving Perry White, Eddie Jones as Jonathan Kent, K Callan as Martha Kent, Michael Landes as Jimmy Olsen, Tracy Scoggins as Catherine "Cat" Grant. Landes does a great job as Jimmy and Tracy Scoggins steals nearly every scene she is in.

The season is a blend of a case-of-the-week procedural with a serial arc (basically involving Superman and Lex and which will "win" both in terms of whether Luther will be brought to justice, but Lois' love. Of course, Lois is clueless as to who Clark really is, but fawns after Superman. The season builds perfectly to what is essentially a two-part season finale. It does not end on a cliffhanger, probably because John Shea left the show as a series regular after season one.

The extras include a commentary track on the pilot episode, a making-of documentary, and a featurette on the visual effects, and a conversation with Cain and Hatcher. So, while not a ton of extras, still a good amount for the people who like watching the bonus material. It is weird that now years later Dean Cain has turned out to be a right-wing nutjob (although usually not as big an asshole as some of the celebrity right-wing nutjobs are), and Terri Hatcher has a reputation of being awful to people because neither gave off that kind of vibe in their Lois and Clark days. 

Overall, the show is very good with some great moments. Teri Hater is absolutely great as Lois (I actually preferred her take on the character over Margot Kidder's), but the writing and acting all around are very good. The special effects were good for the time thanks to the larger budget. This was, however, pre-matrix and the big CGI revolution that came after that, so the effects can definitely be cheesy at times. The show also got a great slate of guest stars including Ben Vereen, Elliot Gould, David Warner, Penn Jillette, and Phyllis Coates, who played Lois in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, and during Season 1 of The Adventures of Superman television series.

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.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow: Season 1

 

Arrow premiered just a couple of years after Smallville had wrapped. It introduced a new version of Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Amell, that made the version in Smallville played by Justin Hartley look like a boy scout. In the pilot, Oliver, who has been on a seemingly deserted island for five years, and was long presumed dead after a boating accident is rescued and brought back to Star City. He discovered, from his father, who owned Queen Industries (which was basically the company that owned everything in Star City), a list of high-profile people who were destroying the city. Oliver takes on the persona of "the hood" and starts killing the people on the list by shooting them with arrows. The rest of the season one cast included David Ramsey, Susanna Thompson, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, John Barrowman, Emily Betts Rickards, Colton Haynes, Willa Holland, and Paul Blackthorne.

The show is definitely more of a serial (with long arcs that run throughout the season) than it is a procedural. The storylines mainly involve Oliver trying to acclimate to life back home while taking on the vigilante persona, keeping that a secret, and avoiding law enforcement. He also has to go up against the season's "big bad" known as the dark archer. The show also flashes back to his time on the Island in which we see how he learned the skills he uses as The Hood and transforms from the spoiled brat that he was into the hero he would become.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, if you get the original release you will get both Blu-Rays and DVDs. For some reason, they decided to include both formats even though people buying the Blu-Ray set probably only cared about watching the Blu-Rays. The A/V quality of the Blu-Rays is very good. The extras include deleted scenes for some of the episodes, and then on the fourth disc, there is a making-of documentary that runs about a half an hour, a featurette on the stunts that runs just under twenty minutes, a Q&A panel from Paleyfest with some of the cast and the showrunners that is just under a half-hour, and a short gag reel.

Overall, the season is very good. I was one who really liked Hartley's performance as the character on Smallville, and was very skeptical about whether this series would work, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The acting was very good. Even though the show definitely relied on a very good-looking cast, the show had a mix of acting veterans and newcomers the acting quality was good even if it took some of the newer actors time to grow into their roles. You can tell that Amell was devoted to the character and got himself into great shape, and did as many of his own stunts as possible, which was something for a very physical action series. There is a lot of violence and some sexual content (but nothing over the top there), so that is something to be aware of. But, if you are a fan of the superhero genre, especially the stories involving characters who are not invincible, this is a good one to check out.

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.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Flash (1990) Complete Series

 

This was, as of 1990, the latest attempt to produce a comic book superhero show on network TV, which had happened over the years, with varying degrees of success (e.g., the George Reeve's Superman series in the 1950s, the Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman series in the 1970s, and Superboy in the 1980s). This one aired on CBS and was totally an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1989 Batman movie. In fact, the soundtrack for the series was very similar to the score used in the Batman movie, even sounding nearly identical at times.

This starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, who is a forensic scientist working for the Central City police, is struck by lightning and doused in chemicals in his lab giving him super speed. He is joined by Research scientist Dr. Tina McGee (played by Amanda Pays) who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and helps Barry fight crime while trying to understand how his powers are developing. Unlike the current version of The Flash running on the CW, this one is a procedural case/villain of the week show and does not have the larger story arcs from the comics like Barry's dad being in jail for the murder of his wife, or elements like that. It also never clearly defines the relationship between Barry and Tina. In one episode they would clearly have a relationship as just colleagues and in the next, they would be made out as potential love interests, and it would swing back and forth. The was also no real "big bad" in the series, although Mark Hamill was being built up as one playing The Trickster.

The DVD set is very bare-bones. It does have captions, but there are not really any extras or bonus material, just the episodes themselves. I do believe that the series is available on some streaming services, so if you only buy physical discs when there are a lot of extras available, you may want to go that route.

Overall, the series was good and really better than it gets credit for. It was definitely still finding its footing at the time it was canceled, and CBS pretty quickly juggled what days it was aired on, and given the smaller fan base that the comic book shows tend to have, and it kind of just ended with a whimper. Of course, the series was brought into the Arrowverse (which I argue could also be called the Smallvilleverse) during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's storyline. John Wesley Shipp did play different characters on the Arroverse's version of The Flash, including playing other Universe's versions of The Flash, but it was in Crisis in which we saw him as the 1990 version of the character. So, while the series did not get a proper ending (since it was canceled after the 22 episodes had aired) the character does get a conclusion in the Arrowverse. It is definitely 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.