Tag: Bonus Features

A Player’s Shameless Guide to Breaking Down Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Home Video

We take a look at which edition of the home video release of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is worth picking up and the verdict is….

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves SteelbookParamount Pictures and eOne
For the Movie Review,
please visit our original post here.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is coming to home video this week! Although what’s offered as bonus content does not differ from the streaming version, I am glad to have a release to hold in my hands. Although I was hoping a store exclusive can come with added goodies, alas the only thing offered (for now) is the steelbook. The case presents the ampersand dragon with the movie cast presented in silhouette and the interior is a gorgeous recreation of the dungeon scene from the film like it was a Mondo art print.

And my appreciation for this film got bumped up a notch. The first segment, “From Dice to Dragons: Honouring the Lore,” finally reveals the details and what kind of love writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley put in to adapt the game to screen. Their interview also includes explaining why they went with a pudgy dragon rather than a sleek one. Strangely, they didn’t acknowledge Gary Gygax or the TSR days. Unless it passed by fast, I would’ve liked to hear that Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro did not own and manage the property back then.

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Antonio Margheriti’s Battle of the Worlds. A Throwback to 60s Sci Fi on Home Video

When Battle of the Worlds was released 1961, it wasn’t well received. But when we flash forward to today and look at it from a film historian’s perspective, it has a place in the lexicon worth noting.

Battle of the Worlds
Available to order on Amazon USA

Release Date: August 9.

The science fiction movies made nearly a half century ago are very different from what we find today. When Battle of the Worlds was released 1961, it wasn’t well received. But when we flash forward to today and look at it from a film historian’s perspective, it has a place in the lexicon worth noting.

The Film Detective was able to make a 4k scan of the original 35mm archival print, and release it as a Bluray. The transfer is only as good as the source material, and therein lies a problem. Watching is is no different from watching it on the big screen back then. There’s a lot of noticable film grain depending on the lighting situation. But as for giving new life to the story, it’s a tough sell.

This movie by Antonio Margheriti isn’t a blip in the radar. Although the direction and tale is very oblique, to watch it from a modern perspective suggests we’ve been spoiled. We get lots of glamour and glitz, and often forget that a solid plot matters a lot more. When compared to other movies made a decade or two later, like Battle Beyond the Stars instead of Battle of the Planets (a completely different genre), budgets matter. And as for where that money is spent by indie filmmakers determines how well their works are remembered.

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All the Heavy Metal is with the Nostalgia

Fans of Heavy Metal the Movie noiw have a remastered 4K and ATMOS presentation to thrill to.

Available to order on Amazon USAHeavy Metal Steelbook EditionHeavy Metal

Heavy Metal was the magazine to read during the 70s and 80s. The reason is that it was the place for talents to write or draw what they want–and not be restricted by censorship. In its original format, I was introduced to the works of Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius). In the American edition, names like H. R. Giger, William Gibson and Harlan Ellison soon graced this publication.

Some of the writing and the artwork featured was once considered cutting edge; it’s very clearly a product of its time. The sexist works won’t hold up today for obvious reasons, and releasing this movie is mostly for those who are okay to the violence and adult themes portrayed. Fans of this anthology series have a remastered 4K presentation of the first movie to thrill to. An extra disc of the main and the second film on blu-ray was unusual. When comparing the prices of the Amazon USA and Canada edition, the former is the better place to order from.

In looking at the purchased physical release rather than an advanced online screener (that I had to wait to arrive by mail order), there’s plenty to like in this remaster. A bit of that soft grainy look is gone, and the better images come later in the film than earlier. Plus, for collectors, the Steelbook offering is a huge draw!

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Examining Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho

The glamour of the era and the music in Last Night in Soho s as delightful and sinister as Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

Last Night In Soho Available On Digital & Blu-ray JanuaryUniversal Pictures
4K Edition available to purchase on Amazon USA

Edgar Wright‘s Last Night in Soho plays better after watching the bonus features in its home video release. This movie is more of a coming-of-age drama than a horror film and I can see this work easily fitting into the same universe as Disney’s live-action Cruella. This work’s emphasis on fashion is key to my theory. 

Even thoughts of Suspiria come to mind because of the colour palette and catapulting of Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) to an era not everyone knows. She somehow manifests, if not dreams, of 60s London. Instead of appearing in her own corporeal form, she’s in the body of her singer idol, Sandy (Anya Taylor-Joy). The two experience the seedier side of Soho district, hence the title. The glamour of the era and the music is as delightful and sinister as Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge–but minus Christian’s perspective of All You Need Is Love and saving the starlet from her demons.

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The Featurette’s Spotlight on Lupin the 3rd The First Again!

To hear how loosey-goosey they are shows how comfortable they are not only with the role but also with bringing something new to the character in these localizations.

Preorder the Blu-Ray here
Preorder the Blu-Ray hereHeavy Metal

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Digital Release Date: Dec 15th
Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack (Preorder on Amazon hereHeavy Metal) SteelBook™ edition with lithograph (order link): January 12, 2021

Anyone unable to visit movie theatres because Lupin the 3rd The First was a limited screening will now see this CGI film on demand through various online video streaming services. The added content which is part of this package (and the home release) had me fall in love with this gentleman thief all over again.

To be fair, the many voice over artists involved in the localizations of the television series, Lupin the Third Part Two, made him popular. He would not be where he is today in the global-scale; he’s beloved as James Bond (artist/creator Monkey Punch acknowledged his inspiration is from this spy franchise). In America, Tony Oliver (Lupin the III), Michelle Ruff (Fujiko), Richard Epcar (Daisuke Jigen), Lex Lang (Goemon) and Dan Lorge (Zenigata) loved working together, and the stories they have to tell in their reunion special—included in this digital package—is very much worth the watch. It’s an audio recording, and I suspect the reason it was done this way is to keep the talents safe. Not even Lupin wants to mess with the pandemic.

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