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DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (3.5.13)

It has been 20 years since the release of Schindler’s List and to celebrate it is being re-released on DVD and Blu-ray. Schindler’s List is a highly regarded classic movie and it our Recommendation of the Week.

First Release

- Wreck-it Ralph (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Intouchables (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Red Dawn (2012) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Re-Release
- Schindler’s List (1993) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Westworld (1973) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Nightmare on Elm Street Collection (Blu-ray)


Schindler’s List
(DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Thomas Keneally (novel ‘Schindler’s Ark’)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes

Schindler’s List
is often considered on best movies ever made, one of the best movies of the 90s and one of the best in Steven Spielberg’s filmography. This was a movie that won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay and five nominations, including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Schindler’s List is based on a novel by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally which was based on the life of Oskar Schindler. Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a German industrialist who moves to Poland after the German invasion hoping to make a fortune and recruits cheap Jewish labor for his factory. But as he sees the horrors of the Final Solution start to emerge Schindler knows he has to act and does everything he can save 1,000 Jews. However Schindler has to make deals with a brutal SS Commander, Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) to ensure he can accomplish this mission.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes:
97% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
93/100 (excellent)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
10/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price:
$15.86 (DVD), $23.99 (Blu-ray)

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


Two of the biggest critically acclaimed and audience pleasing movies are coming out onto DVD and Blu-ray, Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph and the French movie The Intouchables. Horror fans will be pleased with the Blu-ray boxset of the Nightmare on Elm Street series.


Wreck-it Ralph
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Rich Moore
Written by Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee (screenplay), Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, Jim Reardon (story)
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

2012 was a big year for animated movies and one of the best was Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph. Set in the world of computer games Wreck-it Ralph (John C. Reilly) has been the bad guy of the Fix-it Felix game for 30 years and he is sick of it. Ralph leaves his game with the hope of become hero in another game. He ends up befriending a glitch, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) in the racing game Sugar Rush. But if Ralph does not return to his game it would be unplug and Felix (Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock) and pals need to find the wayward character to save their world.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes:
86% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
72/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.8/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: "Paperman" Theatrical Short -- A Young Man In An Office Sees The Girl Of His Dreams In A Skyscraper Window Across The Street. But How Can He Get Her Attention?

Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Bit By Bit: Creating The Worlds Of WRECK-IT RALPH -- Game Jump Through The Worlds Of The Film With The Filmmakers, Artists And Animators Who Created it; Disney Intermission: The Gamer's Guide To WRECK-IT RALPH -- Hosted By Chris Hardwick; Deleted & Alternate Scenes; Video Game Commercials -- Original Commercials For Fix-It Felix, Jr., Hero's Duty And Sugar Rush

Amazon Price:
$17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray), $27.99 (3D Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 4.5 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.


The Intouchables
(DVD and Blu-ray)


Written and directed by Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Starring: François Cluzet, Omar Sy

The Intouchables
was a big movie in France and when Harvey Weinstein brought the distribution rights it became an international hit. The Intouchables was nominated for César Awards, winning a best actor award for Omar Sy and boasts a staggering 8.6 rating on IMDB. An American remake is already in the works.

Driss (Sy), is an Senegalese ex-con who applies for a caretaking job for a wealthy quadriplegic, Philippe (François Cluzet, Tell No One). Despite Driss’ lack of quality of qualifications Philippe hires the man because Driss does not pity the man and an unusual friendship starts to form.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
75% (very good)
Metacritic Rating:
57/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.5/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
Deleted scenes

Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $24.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 3 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 1.5 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Recommended.


Red Dawn (2012) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Dan Bradley
Written by Carl Ellsworth, Jeremy Passmore (screenplay), Kevin Reynolds, John Milius (original movie)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

The 1984 version of Red Dawn is a cult classic and a remake was released in 2012. But this was a movie whose released was delayed for a post-production conversation, digitally changing the enemy from being Chinese to North Korean and MGM’s bankruptcy.

Updating and changing the setting, this version of Red Dawn is set in Spokane, Washington where the West Coast of America is invaded by North Korea and a group of teenagers form a resistance force.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 11% (awful)
Metacritic Rating: 32/100 (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
3.8/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price:
$17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)


Westworld
(1973) (Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Michael Crichton
Starring: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin

Michael Crichton is best known a novelist, writing Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, but he was also an occasional director. One of his best known movies is the sci-fi movie Westworld.

In the future the rich can go to special amusement parks that allow people to feel like they are living in another time. One of them is Westworld, a Western themed park. But in Westworld a computer breakdown leads to one of the robots going rogue and the vacationers suffer the holiday from hell.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes:
87% (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: 8-page booklet featuring trivia, production notes and a revealing look at the making of the movie

Amazon Price: $13.86 (Blu-ray)


Nightmare on Elm Street Collection (Blu-ray)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Written and directed by Wes Craven
Starring: John Saxon, Ronee Blakey, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri, Johnny Deep, Robert Englund

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
Directed by Jack Sholder
Written by David Chaskin
Starring: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler, Clu Gulager, Hope Lange, Robert Englund

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Dream Warriors (1987)
Directed by Chuck Russell
Written by Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell (screenplay), Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner (story)
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson, Robert Englund

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 – The Dream Master (1988)
Directed by Renny Harlin
Written by Brain Helgeland, Scott Pierce (screenplay), William Kotzwinkle, Brain Helgeland (story), Wes Craven (characters)
Starring: Robert England, Lisa Wilcox, Andras Jones, Tuesday Knight, Ken Sagoes, Rodney Eastman, Brooke Theiss, Danny Hassel

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 – The Dream Child (1989)
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
Written by Leslie Bohem (screenplay), John Skipp, Craig Spector, Leslie Bohem (screenplay), Wes Craven (characters)
Starring: Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox

Freddy’s Dead – The Final Nightmare (1991)
Directed by Rachel Talalay
Written by Michael DeLuca (screenplay), Rachel Talalay (story), Wes Craven (character)
Starring: Robert Englund, Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie Deane, Yaphet Kotto, Johnny Depp

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Written and directed by Wes Craven
Starring: Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes, John Saxon

The Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the biggest horror series around, a series that spans seven movies (excluding the remake) as Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) is able to stalk and attack his victims in their dreams. Some major talents have worked on the series, Wes Craven, Chuck Russell (The Mask), Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2), Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) and Johnny Depp.

A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
95% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
78/100
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.5/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – Freddy’s Revenge
(1985)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
42% (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
5.5/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Dream Warriors (1987)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
73% (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 – The Dream Master (1988)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
56% (average)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 – The Dream Child (1989)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
31% (poor)

Freddy’s Dead – The Final Nightmare (1991)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
21% (very bad)

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
77% (very good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
7.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
Over 3 Hours Of Special Features Including The Retrospective Fear Himself: The Life And Crimes Of Freddy Krueger; 2 Episodes From The Freddy's Nightmares TV Series; Welcome To Prime Time Featurette Gallery; Conclusions Featurette Gallery

Amazon Price:
$44.99 (Blu-ray)

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