The Mummy Returns [Blu-ray]

Product Description

The year's biggest action-adventure is coming home… with a vengeance! Brendan Fraser and an all-star cast reunite with Stephen Sommers for explosive, non-stop thrills in "the ultimate rollercoaster movie ride!" (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

An ancient legacy of terror is unleashed when the accursed mummy, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), is resurrected - along with a force even more powerful: The Scorpion King (The Rock). Now, as the fate of all mankind hangs in the balance, Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and his wife Evie (Rachel Weisz) embark on a daring, desperate race to save their son - and the world - from unspeakable evil. Supercharged with pulse-pounding action and spectacular special effects that'll blow you away, The Mummy Returns is "the best adventure movie of the year!" (MTV Radio)

Product Details

• Released on: 2008-07-22
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: Arabic, English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 230 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Proving that bigger is rarely better, The Mummy Returns serves up so much action and so many computer-generated effects that it quickly grows exhausting. In his zeal to establish a lucrative franchise, writer-director Stephen Sommers dispenses with such trivial matters as character development and plot logic, and charges headlong into an almost random buffet of minimum story and maximum mayhem, beginning with a prologue establishing the ominous fate of the Scorpion King (played by World Wrestling Federation star the Rock, in a cameo teaser for his later starring role in--you guessed it--The Scorpion King). Dormant for 5,000 years, under control of the Egyptian god Anubis, the Scorpion King will rise again in 1933, which is where we find The Mummy's returning heroes Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, now married and scouring Egyptian ruins with their 8-year-old son, Alex (Freddie Boath). John Hannah (as Weisz's brother) and Oded Fehr (as mystical warrior Ardeth Bay) also return from The Mummy, and trouble begins when Alex dons the Scorpion King's ancient bracelet, coveted by the evil mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), who's been revived by... oh, but does any of this matter? With a plot so disposable that it's impossible to care about anything that happens, The Mummy Returns is best enjoyed as an intermittently amusing and physically impressive monument of Hollywood machinery, with gorgeous sets that scream for a better showcase, and digital trickery that tops its predecessor in ambition, if not in payoff. By the time our heroes encounter a hoard of ravenous pygmy mummies, you'll probably enjoy this movie in spite of itself. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

This is what Blu is all about!
I can't recommend both Mummy movies on Blu Ray more! Awesome transfers for both flicks. But most of all, just good wholesome entertainment!

Excellent sequel bigger but of the same quality as the first film.
Sequels are tough to do because you know what to expect so filmmaker's often have to give you that plus something unexpected. Bigger and better may not always translate to better but it often translates to a sequel that is the equal of the film that spawned it. I'm going to assume that you've seen it (if not there's a critical bit at the end of this along with a plot synposis that is as sketchy as possible so as not to spoil the experience of the film) and focus on why you should buy the upgraded Blu-ray. As good as "The Mummy Returns" looks on DVD, the Blu-ray is even better looking. Colors are bolder and there's signficantly more detail but, more important, the dark scenes look much better here. The lossless audio sounds terrific as well and will put you right in the middle of the action.

You should be aware however that Edge Enhancement is more noticeable in the BR than it was in the HD-DVD disc or the DVD and there is a fair amount of digital noise reduction applied to reduce grain in certain scenes. What does that mean? It means that we do lose some detail.

Be aware, however, that the extras are in 480p and NOT in HD. Universal does port over U-Control (which was developed for HD-DVD) where you can customize special features on the BD disc. We get all the extras from the original single disc set plus the new extras from the 2 disc DVD ported over to the BD. "The Mummy Returns" is nicely packaged in a colorful slipcase (although I think they could have done without this). At Best Buy and Circuit City (as well as select other retailers there is also movie cash included. You have to go online and register so you can print out your movie ticket (which is good only through 8/24/08 and the site which was up earlier for access to print your ticket now requires you to wait until 8/1/08. I guess some people used their tickets early for other movies or Universal is doing this as a precautionary move).


"The Mummy Returns" is less of a scary horror flick than its predecessor and even more like a "Raiders" type of flick. A perfect popcorn movie, Stephen Sommers takes the same ingredients (evil mummy resurrected, adventurers seeking artifacts and fortunes, supernatural powers)and creates a film that is every bit as fun as the first film was. Like "Aliens" relationship with "Alien", "The Mummy Returns" focuses on taking characters we knew from the first film and putting them in a slightly different context this time around.

SOME SPOILERS:

Rick (Brendan Fraiser)and Evie (Rachel Weisz)now have a 9 year old son Alex(Freddie Boath)and are still digging in dusty old tombs in Egypt. The year of the Scorpion has arrived which means that if Baltus (Alun Armstrong) and the reincarnation of Im-Ho-Tep's (Arnold Vosloo)love Meela-Nais (Patricia Velasquez returning from the first film in a much larger role) can raise Im-Ho-Tep he can take on the Scorpion King (The Rock) Im-Ho-Tep can use the armies of the underworld to rule the world. Alex is taken prisoner and Rick, Evie and Jonathan (John Hannah)Evie's brother must travel to Egypt to help Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr)stop the creature, get their son and save the world.

Excellent Release!
If you love The Mummy - you will love this release in all it's HD goodness! Go, buy it now - listen to the voices in your head :)

Excellent picture - Excellent sound!

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The Mummy [Blu-ray]

Product Description

Experience the ultimate adventure like never before with The Mummy 2-Disc Deluxe Edition! From director Stephen Sommers (producer of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) comes an epic filled with intense action incredible excitement and stunning special effects. Inspired by the timeless 1932 Universal horror film this breathtaking journey unearths a 3000-year-old legacy of terror. Follow two explorers (Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz) as they search for long-lost treasure in the sun-baked Egyptian desert. The time has come to re-discover this extraordinary classic packed with unbelievable bonus features and a digitally restored picture.System Requirements:Running Time: 125 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES Rating: PG-13

Product Details

• Brand: MUMMY, THE (1999) (BLURAY) (BLU-RAY DISC)
• Released on: 2008-07-22
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: Arabic, English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 125 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
If you're expecting bandaged-wrapped corpses and a lurching Boris Karloff-type villain, then you've come to the wrong movie. But if outrageous effects, a hunky hero, and some hearty laughs are what you're looking for, the 1999 version of The Mummy is spectacularly good fun. Yes, the critics called it "hokey," "cheesy," and "pallid." Well, the critics are unjust. Granted, the plot tends to stray, the acting is a bit of a stretch, and the characters occasionally slip into cliché, but who cares? When that action gets going, hold tight--those two hours just fly by.

The premise of the movie isn't that far off from the original. Egyptologist and general mess Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) discovers a map to the lost city of Hamunaptra, and so she hires rogue Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) to lead her there. Once there, Evelyn accidentally unlocks the tomb of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a man who had been buried alive a couple of millennia ago with flesh-eating bugs as punishment for sleeping with the pharaoh's girlfriend. The ancient mummy is revived, and he is determined to bring his old love back to life, which of course means much mayhem (including the unleashing of the 10 plagues) and human sacrifice. Despite the rather gory premise, this movie is fairly tame in terms of violence; most of the magic and surprise come from the special effects, which are glorious to watch, although Imhotep, before being fully reconstituted, is, as one explorer puts it, rather "juicy." Keep in mind this film is as much comedy as it is adventure--those looking for a straightforward horror pic will be disappointed. But for those who want good old-fashioned eye-candy kind of fun, The Mummy ranks as one of choicest flicks of 1999. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews

This is what Blu is all about!
I can't recommend both Mummy movies on Blu Ray more! Awesome transfers for both flicks. But most of all, just good wholesome entertainment!

No Dolby Digital 5.1!
If you don't have a DTS decoder on your receiver, then don't even bother. The 5.1 audio on this disc is DTS ONLY, with the only Dolby audio being a lousy Dolby Pro-Logic 2.0 mix. Hardly the "Purest Digital Sound Available" that it falsely claims on the back of the box. Yeah..."purest" IF you have DTS equipment. Had I known this beforehand I wouldn't have bought it. Of course, who would even think to check since just about every DVD ever made has had a 5.1 channel. What is especially insulting is that the main menu audio is in 5.1. It would have been nice to have a warning or disclaimer on the box. What's the point of a hi-def format when muddy, bogus 2-channel audio is all that's available for someone with a Dolby Digital setup? Especially since its available on the standard (and supposedly inferior?) DVD release? Do they want us to buy a new $300 receiver just to play one movie? What a joke. If you only have a Dolby setup, avoid this release.

Get the upgraded firmware
This movie is beautiful in Blu Ray but when I first attempted to play it, my Sony 300 and 301 shut down right as the movie started. I noticed that it used a brand new DTS-HD Master Audio (only!) 5.1 surround sound and suspected that this was causing the problem, so I went to the Sony site and downloaded and then burned the latest firmware for each of the players, installed them and now the disc plays perfectly on both players. The trouble is that Sony had notified me in the past about such upgraded firmware and they didn't this time. You can also get the CD of the upgrade on the Sony site as well and they'll send it to you.

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The Bank Job [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy

Product Description

A small-time crook takes on a bank heist when an old friend offers him an inside track to the vault. Along with his hastily assembled team of low-rung criminals Terry (Statham) finds himself deep into this real-life heist and quite suddenly the target of ruthless mobsters the police government officials at the highest level and even the royal family.System Requirements:Running Time: 110 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC

Product Details

• Brand: LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.25 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Bank Job (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Fascinating Special Feature
Among other features, the disc includes a mini-documentary, "The Baker Street Bank Raid", on the real life bank robbery. The documentary includes photos and audio (in the movie the crooks end up having their radio transmissions recorded by a ham radio operator) from the actual bank robbery. It's fascinating to see and hear details of the actual robbery in relation to the movie. A great movie with great special features makes this a Blu-Ray worth owning.

The Bank Job
The story starts with Jason Statham running a auto sales and service business. He obviously owes money since two goons show up and start taking crow bars to cars. It doesn't take much convincing from an old girlfriend that he should get in on a bank heist she is planning. We know going into that one of the robbers has a hidden agenda for one of the safety deposit boxes, but the twists and turns thrown in along the preparation and robbery of the bank create some unforseen tension even after the job. - C. Luster

Afterall several of the boxes contained damning material for criminals and high government officials alike. Statham and the rest the cast do a fine job of keeping your interest in the characters and what happens to them. Good acting with a taut story makes "The Bank Job" work.This movie is based on a true story and so it makes it even more interesting to note the shake-up it causes in the police department, MI-5, and the government. Good quality DVD with decent replayability. If you enjoyed this be sure to catch "The Italian Job", "Snatch" and "Inside Man".

...The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Guilty
Set in London in the early 1970s, THE BANK JOB is based on real life events. A group of would be criminals is set up by MI5 (or 6, no one can keep them straight) to rob a bank and regain compromising photos of a royal personage. Unfortunately for our gang, not only were the photos in question (which were the "property" of corrupt revolutionary Michael X) kept in a safe deposit box at this bank, but so were the secrets and lies of many famous and infamous people, including the payola ledgers of a porn kingpin and the photo files of a well-placed local madam. Everybody who was anybody, from the cops on the beat up to the Lords of the Realm, was implicated in some scandal by the evidence from this notorious bank robbery.

THE BANK JOB is a fun, exciting, tension-filled romp. These amateur crooks catch more breaks and have more close calls than you would imagine possible. While the film does slightly bog down on occasion, for the most part the pacing builds just the right amount of suspense with these twists and turns of fate. In several places, my heart was actually racing. By the end, our villains are the heroes, and everyone gets what they truly deserve.

I really liked the cinematography of this film. THE BANK JOB actually looks like it was filmed in the 1970s. At one point, I double-checked with my husband to confirm that it was a recent movie. The effect used is very convincing, producing a very authentic look. The ensemble cast was quite good, performing as a cohesive unit, but no individual really standing out.

THE BANK JOB is a great movie for an entertaining evening at home. My husband and I really had a lot of fun. And we got to learn a little history from the 1970s as well.

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The Godfather Collection - Four-Disc Coppola Restoration (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray]

Product Details

• Released on: 2008-09-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 549 minutes

Customer Reviews

Region 1?
Okay, so finally it looks like it will be there in a bit more two months! Let's hope the material it's worthy of blu-ray... because all DVD/Divx streams I came across so far were between horrible and average. For all of ous too young to have witnessed these movies on the big screen (or at least the first two), this will certainly be an entertaining experience!

Now, why the hell it's only region A (or 1, whatever you want to call it, US and Canada only)??? Will it take another year for Paramount to issue a Worldwide/Europe version perhaps, and that one will have missing chapters or messed up disc structure?
God, I really hate those guys and I wish I understood what goes on in their tiny brains...

Laserdisc edition still superior
Don't be fooled Godfather fans.... forget all the bells and whistles bluray has to offer, not until bluray gets it right and includes all the edited scenes and bunches it in chronological order, will you get the best Godfather experience. So, sit back, dust off that old laserdisc player, if you decided to keep it. and brag to your bluray buddies, that this is the only Godfather edition to watch.

The rating is for the movies, not the "restoration"
I caught the HBO HD versions of all three movies. I'm assuming that the HD versions are the exact same as the upcoming releases (if not better).


The HD versions were very nice. The first two movies were grainy in some parts, for instance, during Michael's trial before the commission.

I think it is too difficult to perfectly transfer 35mm film to a digital format. I think they did a tremendous job with the HBO HD versions and I hope the Blu Ray ones will be better visually. I already know the sound tranfers will be great.

I can hear the opening trumpet now in TrueHD.

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Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set) [Blu-ray]

Product Description

Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman a masked crusader who uses his strength intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES

Product Details

• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-07-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Limited Edition, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 140 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?

Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi

Batman at Amazon.com

All Batman DVDs	Batman Begins 101: A Comic Book Primer	Where Have I Seen Christian Bale?
All Batman Comics and Graphic Novels	Batman Toys	Batman Begins Soundtrack

Stills from Batman Begins (click for larger images)

From The New Yorker
And ends with a whimper. Christopher Nolan, working with a screenplay that he wrote with David S. Goyer, has attempted a literal-minded myth of creation. The orphaned young Bruce Wayne (a gloomy Christian Bale) undergoes an initiation in some nameless Asian snow-capped mountains, where he's trained by a morally ambiguous adjunct (Liam Neeson) to a shadowy ninja vigilante leader (Ken Watanabe). Neeson, wearing a pointy little beard, keeps knocking Bale down as he says such things to him as "To conquer fear you must become fear." The screenplay sounds as if it were written after a course in self-realization taken on Santa Monica Boulevard, and the direction is both pompous and cheesy, with ridiculous plot developments and lots of whirling movement shot so close that we can't really see anything. Gotham is no longer a malignant paradise of evil; it's just dark. With Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine wasted in poorly written roles as Batman's allies.-David Denby -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

I love this movie but
If you already have the actual movie then the gift set is not worth the money. it comes with a bunch of extra cardboard, a USB, a dark knight sneak peek disc(which is really just the latest trailer) and all the same features that are on the double disk version. I'm sorry i pre ordered it. That was the third time I bought this movie.
however if you haven't see the movie then absolutely buy this!

If You Can, Skip the "Deluxe Edition"'s 2nd Disc
"Batman Begins" is a five-star film. Don't forget it. But the 2nd disc, packaged only with the "Deluxe Edition," is one of the most underwhelming "bonus" discs ever sold. Yes, Christian Bale's transformation into Batman is amazing, but he merely talks about it--we don't see much of his grueling eating and workout habits. There's some insight into the director and screenwriter's collaboration, but to get there you'll need to page through a maddening "comic book" interface. By the time I finished making it through the "interactive" DVD, I felt like Bruce Wayne after his parents were murdered.

The Legend of the Batman Begins
After the first Batman franchise was driven into the ground by a succession of terrible sequels, it seemed unlikely that there would ever be a respectable Batman film again. But then there came a hope from an unexpected source. Christopher Nolan (director of Memento and Insomnia) wanted to reinvent the character in a more realistic and epic way. He teamed up with screenwriter David S. Goyer (The Blade Trilogy and Dark City) and together they wrote an exceptionally smart screenplay. The filmmakers have thoughtfully evaluated the mistakes made in the previous films (mainly poor acting, shallow characterization, campy humor and mindless action) and avoided repeating them. They've brought a new level of depth to a genre that has recently been overexposed and streamlined. This is an intellectual superhero film. It deals with dark thematic subject matter, which is only appropriate considering that Batman is essentially a guilt-ridden vigilante who symbolically avenges the death of his parents.
The story looks at the origins of Gotham's Dark Knight. As a young boy, Bruce Wayne fell into a dilapidated well where bats attacked him. The incident would haunt him much of his life and helped to shape who he was to become. His parents, the wealthy Thomas and Martha Wayne, are altruistic and philanthropic. His father owns Wayne Enterprises, a large manufacturing company but he spends most of his time volunteering at the hospital. But one night when the Wayne family was leaving the opera, they were approached by a desperate criminal who shoots Bruce's parents. Years after their death, Bruce tries unsuccessfully to get revenge but ultimately learns that it wouldn't solve anything to perpetuate the cycle of killing. He attempts to infiltrate the criminal underworld so that he might better understand what drives people to "prey on the fearful", but he is caught stealing from his own company. He's thrown into a prison in an unnamed Asian province, where he daily fights the other inmates for "practice". A man calling himself Ducard visits him unexpectedly. He offers Bruce a "path" and suggests he joins a secret fraternity, The League of Shadows, which seeks to bring balance and sanity to the world. When he agrees he is subjected to a brutal training regiment that takes him to the breaking point. Mentally and physically exhausted, he is accepted into their ranks providing that he display his devotion to justice by executing a criminal. Bruce refuses to knowingly take a life and a great battle ensues. After barely escaping and saving Ducard from a fiery demise, he heads back to Gotham alone. He is reunited with his former girlfriend, Rachel and his parental butler, Alfred. He secretly assumes the identity of Batman. When Alfred asks, "Why bats, Master Wayne?" he responds, "Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread." Soon Batman uncovers corruption within the police force, the legal system and even within Wayne Enterprises. But at the heart of this new crime wave is an insidious conspiracy being carried out by a psychotic psychiatrist and an old acquaintance. Ducard returns and reveals his intentions to destroy Gotham City by releasing a "fear-inducing toxin" upon the population. And only Bruce, his former apprentice can stop him from succeeding.
The film features an excellent cast featuring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as Police Sergeant Jim Gordon, Cillian Murphy as Dr. Crane / The Scarecrow, Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone, Rutger Hauer as Earle, Ken Watanabe as Ra's al Ghul, Linus Roache as Thomas Wayne, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
Arguably the best "comic book movie" ever made, Batman Begins resurrects the Dark Knight with style and sophistication. Rarely do these kinds of films touch upon philosophical beliefs, psychological disorders or social corruption and yet this film does so with ease. Batman Begins breathes new life into the legend and is the first chapter in a thrilling new Batman saga, which will be continued in 2008's The Dark Knight.

Also recommended:
Batman Begins
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman (Shadow of the Bat, No. 52)
Batman Begins

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Batman - Gotham Knight [Blu-ray]

Product Description

Acclaimed screenwriters including David Goyer (Batman Begins) Josh Olson (A History of Violence) and Alan Burnett (Batman The Animated Series) join forces with revered animation filmmakers on six spellbinding chapters chronicling Batman s transition from novice crimefighter to Dark Knight. These globe-spanning adventures pit Batman against the fearsome Scarecrow the freakish Killer Croc and the unerring marksman Deadshot. Using an arsenal of high-tech gadgetry from Wayne Industries Batman s ethical boundaries exist only where he chooses to place them leaving some fearful of his power. The sharp storytelling complemented by stylish art from some of the world s most visionary animators masterfully depicts the blurred lines of Batman as man myth and legend.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY

Product Details

• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-07-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 76 minutes

Customer Reviews

Not Good
Hearing that Bruce Timm was producing this DVD animated Batman movie, I ran out to get a copy. Ouch.

While I enjoy the work of several Japanese animators, this is pure "anime" which has become mostly exploitation entertainment produced to appeal to Western audiences. These stories are hollow and thin, and there's a dingy, murky grimness to the collection that makes it impossible to enjoy. Batman is a cipher in these stories, and the heart that makes other Timm productions so special is completely missing. Almost any episode from the first season of Timm's 1990's "Batman The Animated Series" leaves this wallowing in the gutter, where it belongs.

Oh, and most of the animation is generic and boring. Blech.

Meh...
I love Batman. I've loved Batman for years. I am way too excited for The Dark Knight. So when I found out there was going to be an Animatrix style in-betweener for Batman, I flipped....That is until I saw it. Truthfully, this really isn't that good. The animation is phenomenal - very dark, how Batman should be - but the stories just aren't good. They go from bad to slightly better, but still never reach "good" by the end of the movie. I found myself saying "what was the point of that?" at the end of every story, and couldn't really find any good reasons why this was even made. This is pretty much a cash grab from the studios. In comparison to The Animatrix, this one doesn't even stand up - Gotham Knight doesn't give you anything substantial - it doesn't deliver anything about the character that we don't already know, and it doesn't even reiterate the point very well. There is really no need to see this before you see The Dark Knight. I read earlier bad reviews and ignored them and bought it anyway - so PLEASE at least give this one a rental before you drop more than 20 bucks on it.

Disappointed
I got excited to hear about a new Batman cartoon feature. Not only that, I got sucked into the hype when I heard the voice of Kevin Conroy.

The story is loose, not all that together. The 6 interlocking stories makes no sense at all. Batman's suit looks more closely like the Azrael Batman. Most of the drawing are too Akira like. And, that is not a good thing actually.

Kevin Conroy is the Batman, but Masterpiece, this feature is not.

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Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]

Product Description

BBC Video Planet Earth: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray)
From the makers of "Blue Planet: Seas Of Life," comes the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, shot entirely in high definition, this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that captures rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. From the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, this blockbuster series takes you on an unforgettable journey through the daily struggle for survival in Earth's most extreme habitats. Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before, to experiencesights and sounds you may never experience anywhere else. Episodes include: Disc 1 - "Living Planet," "Mountains" and "Fresh Water" Disc 2 - "Caves,""Deserts" and "Frozen Worlds" Disc 3 - "The GreatPlains," "Forests" and "Jungles" Disc 4 - "The Shallow Seas" and "Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep" Disc 5 - "Planet Earth - The Future".

Product Details

• Brand: BBC Video
• Released on: 2007-04-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Widescreen
• Original language: Spanish, English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Running time: 550 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As of its release in early 2007, Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, "From Pole to Pole," serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming--a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea's various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia's nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild.

That's just a hint of the marvels on display. Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights, masterfully filmed from every conceivable angle, with frequent use of super-slow-motion and amazing motion-controlled time-lapse cinematography, and narrated by Attenborough with his trademark combination of observational wit and informative authority. The result is a hugely entertaining series that doesn't flinch from the predatory realities of nature (death is a constant presence, without being off-putting), and each episode ends with 10-minute "Planet Earth Diaries" (exclusive to this DVD set) that cover a specific aspect of production, like "Diving with Pirahnas" or "Into the Abyss" (the latter showing the rigors of filming the planet's most spectacular caves, including the last filming ever officially permitted in the "Chandelier Ballroom," a crystal-encrusted cavern found over a mile deep in New Mexico's treacherous Lechuguilla, the deepest cave in the continental United States.)

With so many of Earth's natural wonders on display, it's only fitting that the final DVD in this five-disc set is devoted to Planet Earth: The Future, a separate three-part series in which a global array of experts is assembled to discuss issues of conservation, protection of delicate ecosystems, and the socio-economic benefits of understanding nature as a commodity that returns trillions of dollars in value at no cost to Earth's human population. At a time when the multiple threats of global warming should be obvious to all, let's give Sir David the last word, from the closing of Planet Earth's final episode: "We can now destroy or we can cherish--the choice is ours." --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Superb high definition BD about The Planet
Crystal clear nature images, sublime moments, excellent picture. You will cry and be really happy with this blue ray disc. A must have to look after more the beautiful world we live in.

Plaqnet Earth
Out of this world but in earth! But you must see this in a DVD/HD player to get the best of it.

Wonderful series...
I had seen this series on tv and it was truly amazing. Now, having it on blu-ray...well...that's the icing on the cake! I highly recommend this set of dvds. Not only are they educational, but it's almost like taking a mini-vacation to some exotic lands, that probably in real-life, you will never get to see in person.

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