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DISCussion: What’s New on DVD/Blu-ray (8.14.12)

Universal Studios is currently celebrating its 100th Anniversary, so many of its movies have been re-released onto Blu-ray, including this week’s Recommendation of the Week, the classic Spielberg movie Jaws. The Blu-ray features plenty of commentaries, interviews, documentaries and a digital copy so you can watch it on the go.

First Release
- The Raid: Redemption (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Hunger Games (DVD and Blu-ray) (Release Date August 18)
- Kill List (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Hick (DVD)
- Juan of the Dead (DVD)
- Iron Sky (DVD and Blu-ray)


Re-Release
- Stallone Collection (DVD and Blu-ray)
- La Promesse (1995) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Rosetta (1999) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Royal Tenebaums (2002) (Blu-ray)
- Jaws (1975) (Blu-ray)
- New Jack City (1991) (Blu-ray)
- Fallen (1998) (Blu-ray)
- Shaft (1971) (Blu-ray)


*Recommendation of the Week*
Jaws (1975) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb (screenplay), Peter Benchley (novel)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

What’s the Deal?
Jaws is often regarded as one of the first blockbusters and one of the first movies to start the cycle of major summer releases we all know now. Jaws was one of Steven Spielberg’s first movies and it was the one that made his career. Jaws has an iconic film score, but despite its premise it somehow spawned three sequels, each more terrible and ridiculous then the last.

Jaws is a two-part movie set in a tourist town on Long Beach which is terrorized by a great white shark. The town officials ignore the warnings of Brody (Roy Scheider), a medical examiner and later find themselves hunting the shark.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 100% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 9.3/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Digital Copy of Jaws (download by 12/31/2013); UltraViolet Copy of Jaws (download/redeem by 12/31/2013); The Shark is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of Jaws - All-new feature-length documentary featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with cast and crew including Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider; The Making of Jaws: A feature-length documentary featuring interviews with key cast and crew; Jaws: The Restoration - An all-new in-depth look at the intricate process of restoring the movie; Deleted Scenes and Outtakes From the Set: An insider’s look at life on the set of Jaws, featuring an interview with Steven Spielberg Storyboards Production Photos; Marketing Jaws; Jaws Phenomenon; Original Theatrical Trailer; pocket BLU: App for smartphones and tablets - take content on the go! BD-Live: Internet-connected features; My Scenes: Bookmark your favorite scenes

Amazon Price: $17.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 5 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 5 stars (out of 5). DVD Talk Collector Series.




The Raid: Redemption is here to please martial arts fans, while the adaptation of The Hunger Games is sure to become one of the year's biggest sellers. The B-Movie Iron Sky could even find itself a cult following on DVD. From Criterion Collection this week we have three art-house movies and Sylvester Stallone has a boxset of three of his movies coming out in time to promote The Expendables 2.


The Raid: Redemption (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Gareth Evans
Starring: Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Joe Taslim

What’s the Deal?
On an action level, the Indonesian movie The Raid: Redemption was amazing and is one of the best martial arts movies to be made in a long time. The Raid: Redemption impressed when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and earned excellent reviews. A sequel and an American remake are already in the works.

The Raid: Redemption is the second time Welsh director Gareth Evans and Pencak Silat martial artist Iko Uwais have worked together as 20 elite SWAT officers raid a tower block filled with criminals to arrest a major crime lord (Ray Sahetapy). But when the team is spotted it becomes a fight for survival in an action spectacular.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 83% (very good)
Player Affinity Score: 7.9/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Including 7 featurettes on Stunts, Behind the Music and Making-Of; An Evening with Gareth Evans, Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese, plus Filmmaker Video Blogs; Director''s Commentary

Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3.5 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.




The Hunger Games (DVD and Blu-ray) (Releases Saturday, Aug. 18)

Directed by Gary Ross
Written by Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (novel)
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley

What’s the Deal?
Gary Ross’ (Seabiscuit) adaptation of the popular teen novel The Hunger Games was the first highly anticipated movie of 2012 and the role of Katniss Everdeen was one of the most sought-after roles in Hollywood. The Hunger Games was a critical and commercial success.

In the future, North America has fallen and in its place is Panem, a nation made up of 12 districts. Every year all the districts have to supply one boy and one girl to fight in a battle to the death, The Hunger Games. In the poorest district, District 12, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone) becomes their female tribute after volunteering to take her sister’s place.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 85% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and the Hunger Games Phenomenon; The World is Watching: Making the Hunger Games; Letters from the Rose Garden; Controlling the Games; A Conversation with Gary Ross and Elvis Mitchell; Propaganda Film; Marketing Archive

Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Kill List (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump
Starring: Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring, Emma Fryer

What’s the Deal?
Kill List is a horror-thriller that was met with positive reviews in its native Great Britain and earned Michael Smiley (Spaced) a Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Independent Film Awards.

After a mission has gone wrong in Kiev, ex-soldier-turned-contract-killer Jay (Neil Maskell) is called back into action by his partner, Gal (Smiley), who gets him a job to kill three people for a big pay off. But as Jay takes the job his reality starts to fall apart and he falls into a dark world.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 74% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Commentary with Director Ben Wheatley and Writer Amy Jump; Commentary with Actors Neil Maskell, Myanna Buring and Michael Smiley; Interviews; Making Of; Featurette; Trailer

Amazon Price: $12.98 (DVD), $24.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 3 stars (out of 5). Recommended.



Hick (DVD)

Directed by Derick Martini
Written by Andrea Portes
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Juliette Lewis, Blake Lively, Alec Baldwin, Eddie Redmayne

What’s the Deal?
In a short span of time Chloe Grace Moretz has emerged as one of the best young actors around, earning praise for her performances in Kick-Ass, Let Me In and Hugo. But sadly, not all her movies can be critical hits and that is the case of Hick, the adaptation of Andrea Portes’ critically acclaimed novel.

Luli (Moretz) is a 13-year-old Nebraskan girl who runs away from home and her alcoholic parents and heads for Las Vegas. On the way she is taken under the wing of Glenda (Blake Lively, Savages), a cocaine-snorting drifter.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 0% (awful)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Making Of Featurette; Theatrical Trailer; Digital Download of Chapter 1 Of "Hick" The Novel

Amazon Price: $26.99 (DVD)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Juan of the Dead (DVD)

Written and directed by Alejandro Brugués
Starring: Alexis Díaz de Villegas

What’s the Deal?
Juan of the Dead is a Cuban-Spanish horror-comedy with a political tone as hordes of the undead start to invade Havana and the Cuban propaganda machine claims that zombies are not responsible for the attack, but rather it's the Americans.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 69% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Trailer; Making-Of-Featurette; Deleted Scenes

Amazon Price: $9.99 (DVD)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Iron Sky (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Timo Vurensola
Written by Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vurensola
Starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Udo Kier

What’s the Deal?
Iron Sky started life as a trailer and the tagline “In 1945 The Nazis went to the Moon. In 2018 they are coming back”. What resulted was a Internet phenomenon with the Finnish filmmakers set out to make Iron Sky into a real movie and even got 10 percent of its budget from public donations.

In the dying days of World War II, a secret Nazi space program was launched to colonize the dark side of moon. 70 years later an African-American astronaut (Christopher Kirby, The Matrix Reloaded) discovers their base and the Nazi fuehrer (Udo Kier, Blade) plans to invade Earth.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 42% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 4.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $33.64 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A




Stallone Collection (DVD and Blu-ray)

First Blood (1982)
Directed by Ted Kotchff
Written by Michael Kozoll, William Sackhiem, Sylvester Stallone (screenplay), David Morrell (novel)
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy

Cop Land (1997)
Written and directed by James Mangold
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Michael Rapaport

Lock Up (1989)
Directed by John Flynn
Written by Richard Smith, Jeb Stuart, Henry Rosenbaum
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland

What’s the Deal?
The Expandables 2 is about to be released into theaters this week and to celebrate, three Sylvester Stallone movies are being re-released in a DVD and Blu-ray box set. They are the first Rambo movie, First Blood, the cop drama Cop Land and the prison drama Lock Up.

First Blood (1982)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 86% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 7.2/10

Cop Land (1997)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 71% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10

Lock Up (1989)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 20% (awful)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $22.23 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Recommended.




La Promesse (1996) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Starring: Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo

What’s the Deal?
La Promesse is the first of two movies by Belgian filmmakers the Dardenne brothers being re-released by the Criterion Collection. Igor (Jérémie Renier) is a 15-year-old boy who lives with his father Roger (Olivier Gourmet). Roger makes money by renting squalid apartments to immigrants, many of them illegal, and sometimes gets them to work on construction sites. But after Igor makes a promise to help a young African woman, Assita (Assita Ouedraogo), it forces him to challenge his loyalty to his father and his own conscience.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 95% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by Alain Marcoen; Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers; New interviews with actors Jeremie Renier and Olivier Gourmet; Trailer; New English subtitle translation; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones

Amazon Price: $24.99 (DVD), $35.96 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Rosetta (1999) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Starring: Émilie Dequenne

What’s the Deal?
Rosetta was the first movie by the Dardenne brothers that was a success at Cannes, winning the Palme d’Or and the Best Actress Award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival as 18-year-old Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne), who lives with her alcoholic mother in a caravan, loses her factory job after her 'trial period' is finished. Rosetta does everything she can to get job to support herself and her mother and willing to sacrifice her own happiness.

Rosetta was used to help influence Belgian lawmakers to prohibit employers paying teenagers less then the minimum wage.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 87% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers; New interview with actors Emilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet; Trailer; New English subtitle translation; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones

Amazon Price: $24.99 (DVD), $34.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


The Royal Tenenbaums (2002) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Wes Anderson
Written by Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson
Starring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Willison, Bill Murray

What’s the Deal?
The other rerelease from the Criterion Collection this week is of the Wes Anderson’s indie dramedy, The Royal Tenenbaums. Filled with an ensemble cast and Anderson’s trademark style, The Royal Tenenbaums is considered one of his best movies.

A father of three former child prodigies, Royal Tenebaum (Gene Hackman) returns home after 20 years to make things right when one of the family has been dialogised with a terminal disease.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 80% (very good)
Player Affinity Score: 7.5/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Wes Anderson; Audio commentary by Anderson; With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles, featuring Anderson; Interviews with and behind-the-scenes footage of the actors; The Peter Bradley Show, featuring interviews with additional cast members; Scrapbook featuring young Richie’s murals and paintings and more; Studio 360 radio segment on painter Miguel Calderon; Trailers; Insert with Eric Anderson's drawings of the Tenenbaum house; PLUS: An essay by film critic Kent Jones

Amazon Price: $19.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



New Jack City (1991) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Mario Van Peebles
Written by Thomas Lee Wright, Barry Michael Cooper (screenplay), Thomas Lee Wright (story)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Judd Nelson, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Bill Nunn, Mario Van Peebles

What’s the Deal?
New Jack City is a crime movie from the early '90s about the rise of gangster Nico Brown (Wesley Snipes), the leader of a major drug dealing operation, and trio of police officers that want to bring him down.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 76% (very good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Commentary by Director/Costar Mario Van Peebles; 3 Featurettes; 3 Music Videos; Van Peebles Parody; Theatrical Trailer

Amazon Price: $11.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


Fallen (1998) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Gregory Hoblit
Written by Nicholas Kazan
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland

What’s the Deal?
Fallen is a supernatural thriller that was met with a mixed reception upon its release as Police Detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) witnesses the death of serial killer but in the aftermath a new set of murders start, with a very similar style.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 40% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Feature-length Audio Commentary by Director Gregory Hoblit, Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan and Producer Charles Roven; Theatrical Trailer

Amazon Price: $11.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


Shaft (1971) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Gordon Parks
Written by Ernest Tidyman, John D.F. Black (screenplay), Ernest Tidyman (novel)
Starring: Richard Roundtree

What’s the Deal?
“Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks?” Shaft is one of the most famous and iconic blaxploitation films and has an even more famous soundtrack as private detective John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) takes the case to track down the kidnapped daughter of a black gangster and ends up clashing with the black mob, black nationalists and the white mafia.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 88% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Behind-the-Scenes Documentary: Soul In Cinema: Filming Shaft on location; ; Shaft: The Killing (1973 TV Episode); 3 Theatrical Trailers

Amazon Price: $12.49 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A

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