Britgeek here.
Reviews for the latest and upcoming DVD and Blu-ray releases in the UK just keep on coming as I present to you the second part of this bumper review special!
My Everest-sized thanks to anyone who orders any of the following releases that take their fancy by clicking the links and images, as a small portion of the purchase price will count towards supporting my efforts in bringing you AICN UK. Your support is greatly appreciated!
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (Blu-ray)
One of the most controversial – and blisteringly visceral – films of all time hits Blu-ray in the UK, a decade after it was finally unbanned and given classification by the BBFC. But this release isn't just the previously approved cut with an HD makeover. Instead, it consists of two versions of the film: one with 14 seconds of cuts, making it the longest made legally available in Britain, and another brand new edit overseen by director Ruggero Deodato himself. What's the difference, you may ask? Well, despite the BBFC making it known in the past that the infamous (and very real) animal killings would never be approved, all but one of the deaths (the first) are now shown in full. Deodato, however, regrets how the original version showed the animals die so explicitly, and so has edited around them, keeping some shots and covering others up in his new cut.
This actually marks the very first time that I've seen the grisly animal material in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. I can't stand watching cut films as I always feel like I'm missing out, but that's just never been the case with this, and I shouldn't really need to explain why. The footage is distasteful and still quite shocking, especially the scene involving the turtle.
As for the remaster, this notorious horror classic looks better than ever, with fresh and vibrant picture and just enough grain to make the found footage scenes work as well as they ever have. If you call yourself a genre fan and have never seen CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, you're missing out on a landmark movie. Without it, there would be no THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and, subsequently, no PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.
Extras: Theatrical trailer; Film & Be Damned: an interview with Carl G. Yorke and Deodato; The Long Road Back from Hell, with film critic and author Kim Newman, Prof. Julian Petley, Prof. Mary Wood, and featuring Yorke, Deodato and Francesca Ciardi; Shameless trailer park.
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Blu-ray)
Let's face it, who wouldn't want to be John Malkovich? If voice transplants ever come to pass, The Malkovich will be the number one best seller, mark my words. He's such a distinctive actor, and that's why I think he was such an excellent choice to base BEING JOHN MALKOVICH on. Over a decade since its original release, it's still such a wonderfully unique film. Strange, fantastical and funny.
I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the room with the man himself as he read Charlie Kaufman's quirky and multi-layered script for the first time. To witness his reactions to the personality and actions of the fictionalised version of him in the literature would have been quite amazing, I'm sure.
As is often the case with Blu-ray technology, the high-definition remaster has breathed new life into the film, but it isn't great. US readers and those in other countries where the film isn't available in the format may like to know that this release is region-free.
Extras: American Arts Culture Presents: John Horatio Malkovich, Dance of Despair and Disillusionment; An interview with director Spike Jonze; 7 ½ Floor Orientation: the clip from the film that tells the story of Floor 7 1/2's origins; An Intimate Portrait of the Art of Puppeteering: an interview with puppeteer Phil Huber; and An Intimate Portrait of the Art of Background Driving: an interview with an extra tasked with driving past in the background of a scene. A poor show overall.
ARTHUR (DVD)
After a viewing of ARTHUR, one thing about Russell Brand is immediately clear: Dudley Moore he is not. Brand's turn as the mega-rich playboy torn between love and his bank account is at first incredibly annoying. His helium voice takes some getting used to, that is for certain. Far more frustrating than the film's leading man, however, is its almost complete lack of humour. I think I laughed twice from beginning to end. ARTHUR is a movie with a lot of heart and one that does have its moments, but is yet a perfect example of an inferior remake. And the original wasn't even that spectacular.
Extras: Additional footage.
DOUBLE IMPACT (DVD)
What's better than one Jean-Claude Van Damme? Two Jean-Claude Van Dammes, of course. DOUBLE IMPACT may be a fine example of a real cheeseball action film from the early '90s, but it's one of JCVD's best, and that inescapable aroma of cinema cheese is one of the reasons why.
The film sees Van Damme playing twin brothers as they seek revenge for the murder of their parents 25 years prior at the hands of a ruthless Chinese gang. The well-executed combination of great action scenes, humour and two easily distinguishable Van Dammes makes DOUBLE IMPACT a fun, winning and ultimately underrated entry in his hit-and-miss, bullet-ridden filmography.
SHAOLIN (DVD)
A Chinese warlord (Andy Lau) betrayed by his peers seeks refuge at the same Shaolin temple that he once opposed in Benny Chan's (NEW POLICE STORY) SHAOLIN, a martial arts-heavy story of redemption that leaves its mark thanks to stunning fight choreography directed by the acclaimed Corey Yuen (THE TRANSPORTER, X-MEN). Unfortunately, the action is the most gripping aspect of the film, as a convoluted first act segues into a rather flat second as the story builds to an impressive climax.
Extras: This two-disc edition features an audio commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan; a nine-part making-of feature; trailers for other Cine-Asia releases; a wealth of behind the scenes material: extended scenes, fight footage, deleted scenes and more; 16 cast and crew interviews; and three trailers (original and UK).
SUNRISE: Dual Format Edition (DVD/Blu-ray)
F.W. Murnau's very first American studio picture is truly something to behold. Re-released under the Masters of Cinema label in a DVD/Blu-ray Dual Format Edition, the formerly out-of-print SUNRISE from 1927 is a poetic, lyrical and near fantastical tale of love, temptation and emotional strength. It's no surprise that it won three Oscars, one of which was for Best Cinematography. The technical innovation displayed throughout the film is nothing short of incredible, especially when you take into consideration the limitations of the time. SUNRISE is a German director's American masterpiece.
Extras: This set features two versions of the film: the American MovieTone release, with a selection of the original and Timothy Brock scores, and a John Bailey commentary, plus a recently discovered Czech cut, which runs 15 minutes shorter. Also included are outtakes with optional commentary from Bailey, the trailer, Janet Bergstrom's 40-minute documentary on 4 DEVILS, Murnau's lost film from 1928, and a collector's booklet.
TERRITORIES (DVD)
We've seen numerous films over the years about soldiers who have returned from combat unhinged and waged war against their fellow denizens, but the nightmare depicted in TERRITORIES takes the familiar territory (no pun intended) to a new extreme.
The film sees a couple of Operation Desert Storm veterans posing as police officers to “arrest” a group driving back from a wedding, all because the man at the wheel is an Arab-American. Their next step? Holding them captive in their own personal Guantanamo Bay in the woods, where they kick-start a ruthless series of interrogations.
Grainy, grungy and coldly lensed by Karim Hussain (director of the VISION STAINS segment from THE THEATRE BIZARRE and DP on HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN), director Olivier Abbou's spin on backwoods horror is a stark and viciously entertaining film with a fantastic opening scene.
BIG FAT GYPSY GANGSTER (DVD)
I'm not at all familiar with Ricky Grover's alter ego Bulla, a comedy character from THE 11 O'CLOCK SHOW in the late '90s, but the decision to give him his own feature-length film seems a little bold given the limited amount of information on him that I was able to extract from the internet. There appears to have been no demand for this. Nevertheless, Bulla: The Movie is what we have with BIG FAT GYPSY GANGSTER, with Grover fronting as the foul-mouthed, borderline insane, suited-and-booted Londoner who is released from prison after 16 years to discover that his home turf has dramatically changed.
With midget fighting, more cockney rhyming slang than you can shake a stick at, and quite possibly the biggest cast of notable British names you'll see this year (Steven Berkoff as a spiritualist guru is just for starters), mockumentary BIG FAT GYPSY GANGSTER provides a couple of laughs but fails to leave much of an impression. Grover's apparent channelling of an East End Randy Savage is particularly interesting, however.
Extras: Deleted scenes.
That just about wraps it up for the second part of this bumper review special of sorts. Many thanks for all the questions you've been sending in for THE RAID and MERANTAU writer/director Gareth Evans. I'll be putting the best five to him this week in my interview. And huge congratulations are in order for Evans and co as they took home the Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award at the Toronto International Film Festival!
TTFN.
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