Library

Languages: Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: DTS

Comments: What happens when make-believe believes it's real?

Summary: I just want to say that if you live in quebec and you are hoping that the french version of the movie is included then you should wait because it is NOT.This blu ray was released by new line cinema and not alliance atlantis which is curious because I thought they had the exclusive rights in canada.Maybe there is another version in store you should check out before buying it at amazon.

Languages: English, Hindi, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This adaptation of E.M. Forster's mysterious tale of British racism in colonial India turned out to be master director David Lean's final film. Subtle and grand at the same time, Lean's adaptation is faithful to the book, rendering its blend of the mystical and the all-too human with exquisite precision. Judy Davis plays a young British woman traveling in India with her fiancé's mother. While visiting a tourist attraction, she has a frightening moment in a cave--one that she eventually spins from an instant of mental meltdown into a tale of a physical attack that ruins several lives. Lean captures Forster's sense of awe at the kind of ageless wisdom and inexplicable phenomena to be encountered in India, as well as the British tendency to dismiss it all as savage, rather than simply different. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Two Worlds, One War. The Ultimate Battle Begins.

Summary: A brief history lesson -- the Vikings were the first Europeans to land in the Americas, almost five hundred years before Columbus. They even settled down to live there for awhile, though it didn't last.



There's a brilliant movie somewhere in that story -- an epic of exploration, discovery and struggle between two very different peoples. Too bad "Pathfinder" isn't that movie, with its mindless action, ridiculous characters, and a pompous stream of wretched dialogue and silly direction. It's a disaster, pure and simple.



An American Indian woman found a little boy abandoned in the ruin of a Viking ship, and brought him bck to her people, where he was renamed Ghost and brought up as one of them. But though Ghost (Karl Urban) becomes strong and well-liked, he's still haunted by his Viking past -- until the day he sees dragon boats coming to shore, and his village is brutally slaughtered.



Wounded and left for dead, Ghost is found by a hunting party that includes Starfire (Moon Bloodgood), the token love interest. When the Vikings find him again, he must outwit the small army of Vikings, protect his remaining people from them -- and finally settle his divided feelings about his own identity.



Yeah, it's all a cliche -- outcast hero raised among peaceful people, finds inner peace by kicking savage butts of his birth race. Even in the hands of a good director this would be staggeringly unexiting -- and it isn't in the hands of a good director. It's in Marcus "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake" Nispel's hands.



And Nispel has clearly decided that this is his magnum opus: creepy lighting, slow-motion, and pompous dramatic shots like swords being lifted from the snow (signaling that this is a Very Significant Moment). But there's nothing that even a good action movie should have -- there is no logic, cohesion, plot or good dialogue ("The prophecy... is coming to fulfilment!").



Instead, Nispel packs it with gore, swords and torture, to demonstrate that all the Vikings are PURE EVIL, lest you waste any sympathy on them. But his action scenes are more likely to inspire laughter than horror or cheap thrills, especially when Ghost starts fighting the Vikings... in a SLED CHASE. Really. It only gets campier and sillier as time goes on, until Ghost defeats the bad guys by triggering an avalanche... by yelling.



Karl Urban is a deeply talented actor with immense presence... and an unfortunate tendency to pick some really awful action movies. He does the best that anyone could do with such a flimsy character (come on, who really thinks Ghost would join the Vikings?), which isn't that much. Bloodgood is basically a token love interest, and not a very realistic one either.



As for the supporting characters, they might as well be played by paper dolls. The Indians are stereotypically peaceful, spiritual and very boring, with names like Starfire and Wind in Tree. And the Vikings are grunting, thick-skulled behemoths in bloodstained horned skull helmets, with no sign of higher brain function. These aren't Vikings, these are orcs.



A promising idea gets buried under a steaming, putrescent heap of mindless action, logic-free scripting, and characters so thin you could wrap Christmas presents in them. Stunningly wretched.

Languages: English, French, Czech, Polish, German

Subtitles: Czech, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, "The Patriot" qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of "Stargate, Independence Day", and "Godzilla", director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for "Saving Private Ryan". Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichés and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop.
On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, "The Patriot" conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in "Braveheart" with an effectively brooding performance. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Let's see--he's been Han Solo in three films and Indiana Jones in three more. So why shouldn't Harrison Ford take on a new continuing character in Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan? In this film, directed by Phillip Noyce, Ford picked up the baton when Alec Baldwin, who played Ryan in "The Hunt for Red October", opted for a Broadway role instead. In this film, Ryan and his family are on vacation when Ryan saves a member of the British royal family from attack by Irish terrorists. The next thing he knows, the Ryan clan has been targeted by the same terrorists, who invade his Maryland home. The film can't shed all of Clancy's lumbering prose, or his techno-dweeb fascination with spy satellites and the like. But no one is better than Ford at righteous heroism--and Sean Bean makes a suitably snakey villain. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: There were reasons writer-director Brian Helgeland's cut of "Payback" was dismissed by distributors Paramount and Warner Bros., then heavily re-shot and re-tooled by Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Entertainment. Those reasons are explained in detail by Gibson, Helgeland, and others in the special features of "Payback: The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition)". Among them: Helgeland's version was too dark. America wasn't ready in 1999 to see Gibson play an unapologetic, 1970s-style antihero who might not get exactly what he wants. Audiences didn't have the patience to wait for answers to their story questions. A dog dies. (A big no-no.) All of these comments make sound, practical sense. But here's the bottom line: Helgeland's cut, perhaps even a bit more disciplined and taut (according to "Payback"’s editor, Kevin Stitt) than it was in 1999, is a serious movie with an organic tone and logic that makes the film look the way it was meant to look: as a neo-noir film for adults. The theatrical release of "Payback", by contrast, was and is silly and vulgar, self-sabotaging, pointlessly vicious, and perversely jaunty. It is very much like--deliberately like--the "Lethal Weapon" series. The Director’s Cut makes clear that’s not at all what Helgeland had in mind. Kudos to Gibson and Icon for giving Helgeland a chance to restore his film and get it out on this DVD. But a look at both versions (this disc does not include the theatrical cut) back-to-back can certainly make one's head spin. Icon’s revisions in the original release show little faith in a contemporary audience’s ability to discern much about a story or mood or character from spare but telling details. That film relies on crass swatches of voiceover narration, cute inserts, added scenes, and hipster tunes on the soundtrack. All of that was designed to tell an audience how to feel rather than encourage a cinematic experience encountered with an open heart and mind. Worst of all is a specious third act nakedly built around an obligatory Gibson-gets-tortured sequence, leading the film to a lazy, comforting conclusion. The Director’s Cut eschews all of that. Gibson’s character, Porter (based on the central character in the novel "The Hunter," written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark), is a man returning from the brink of death with nothing but his identity and the memory of something (an almost-nominal amount of money) taken from him. His iron determination, his capacity for brutality and inducing fear, and his survival instinct make him anything but warm and cuddly. It's his few ties to the past--especially an interrupted relationship with a call girl (Maria Bello)--that humanize him. One doesn't have to like Porter; one just accepts him and follows his journey in an honest, unmitigated fashion. That’s exactly what Helgeland does, and his cleaner, leaner, smarter cut is instantly rewarding for its uncompromising, undistracted toughness. Special features include a documentary about the film’s history, and a wonderful interview with Westlake. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: To call "Pearl Harbor" a throwback to old-time war movies is something of an understatement. Director Michael Bay's epic take on the bombing that brought the United States into World War II hijacks every war movie situation and cliché (some affectionate, some stale) you've ever seen and gives them a shiny, glossy spin until the whole movie practically gleams. Planes glisten, water sparkles, trees beckon--and Bay's re-creation of the bombing itself, a 30-minute sequence that's tightly choreographed and amazingly photographed, sets the action movie bar up quite a few notches. And in updating the classic war film, Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace ("Braveheart") use that old plot standby, the love triangle--this time, it's between two pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) and a nurse (Kate Beckinsale) who find themselves stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during what they thought would be a nice, sunny tour of duty. Then, of course, history intervened. br/> For the first 90 minutes of the movie, Affleck and Beckinsale find a nice, appealing chemistry that plays on his strengths as a movie star and hers as a serious actress--he gives her glamour, she gives him smarts. Their truncated romance--the beginning of which is told in flashback so we can get right to the point where he has to leave her to go to England--works, thanks to their charm. They're no Kate and Leo from "Titanic" (a strategy the film strives hard toward), but they're pretty darn adorable in their own right. Hartnett, as the not entirely unwelcome third wheel, squints bravely but makes only a slight dent in the film. Everyone else in Pearl Harbor--from Cuba Gooding Jr.'s brave navy seaman to Jon Voight's able impersonation of FDR--is pretty much a glorified walk-on, taking a backseat to the pyrotechnics and action sequences that keep the three-hour film in fairly constant motion. But when that action does take hold, "Pearl Harbor" is quite a thrilling ride. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Perfect Stranger" is saved from conventional starlet-in-distress mediocrity by a certain refreshing unwholesomeness, a tawdry strain that runs all the way through its climactic series of kickers. Halle Berry plays a "gotcha" reporter, currently undercover to nail a famous advertising tycoon (Bruce Willis)--not for a story, but because Berry thinks he might be involved in a friend's murder. The distasteful nature of Berry trying to seduce the married exec adds some spice, and so does her pervy assistant (Giovanni Ribisi), whose voyeuristic tendencies indicate more than customary comic relief--at the least, he's a hefty red herring. There are other red herrings, mostly beginning to smell, in the rather ramshackle script. Director James Foley, who has a talent for hothouse intensity (Glengarry Glen Ross, At Close Range) gives this material more edge than it probably deserves, although he can't make Berry convincing, and she and Ribisi are completely wrong as simpatico best friends. Willis looks good by comparison, turning a one-note role into a subtle act of professionalism. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: By some lucky quirk of fate, "Phone Booth" landed on Hollywood's A-list, but this thriller should've been a straight-to-video potboiler directed by its screenwriter, veteran schlockmeister Larry Cohen, who's riffing on his own 1976 thriller "God Told Me To". Instead it's a pointless reunion for fast-rising star Colin Farrell and his "Tigerland" director, Joel Schumacher, who employs a multiple-image technique similar to TV's "24" to energize Cohen's pulpy plot about an unseen sniper (maliciously voiced by "24"'s Kiefer Sutherland) who pins his chosen victim (a philandering celebrity publicist played by Farrell) in a Manhattan phone booth, threatening murder if Farrell doesn't confess his sins (including a potential mistress played by Katie Holmes in a thankless role). In a role originally slated for Jim Carrey, Farrell brings vulnerable intensity to his predicament, but Cohen's irresistible premise is too thin for even 81 brisk minutes, which is how long Schumacher takes to reach his morally repugnant conclusion. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is a rollicking voyage in the same spirit of the two earlier "Pirates" films, yet far darker in spots (and nearly three hours to boot). The action, largely revolving around a pirate alliance against the ruthless East India Trading Company, doesn't disappoint, though the violence is probably too harsh for young children. Through it all, the plucky cast (Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush) are buffeted by battle, maelstroms, betrayal, treachery, a ferocious Caribbean weather goddess, and that gnarly voyage back from the world's end--but with their wit intact. As always, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow tosses off great lines ; he chastises "a woman scorned, like which hell hath no fury than!" He insults an opponent with a string of epithets, ending in "yeasty codpiece."!
In the previous "Dead Man's Chest", Sparrow was killed--sent to Davy Jones' Locker. In the opening scenes, the viewer sees that death has not been kind to Sparrow--but that's not to say he hasn't found endless ways to amuse himself, cavorting with dozens of hallucinated versions of himself on the deck of the Black Pearl. But Sparrow is needed in this world, so a daring rescue brings him back. Keith Richards' much ballyhooed appearance as Jack's dad is little more than a cameo, though he does play a wistful guitar. But the action, as always, is more than satisfying, held together by Depp, who, outsmarting the far-better-armed British yet again, causes a bewigged commander to muse: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?" As far as fans are concerned, it matters not. "--A.T. Hurley"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Take the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, add a dash of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and a lot more rum. Shake well and you'll have something resembling "Dead Man's Chest", a bombastic sequel that's enjoyable as long as you don't think too hard about it. The film opens with the interrupted wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), both of whom are arrested for aiding in the escape of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the first film. Their freedom can only be obtained by getting Captain Jack's compass, which is linked to a key that's linked to a chest belonging to Davy Jones, an undead pirate with a tentacle face and in possession of a lot of people's souls. If you're already confused, don't worry--plot is definitely not the strong suit of the franchise, as the film excels during its stunt pieces, which are impressively extravagant (in particular a three-way swordfight atop a mill wheel). It may help to know that "Dead Man's Chest" was filmed simultaneously with some of "Pirates 3", so don't expect a complete resolution (think more "The Empire Strikes Back") or the movie will feel a "lot" longer than it really is.
Bloom shows a tad bit more brawn this time around, but he's still every bit as pretty as the tomboyish Knightley. (Seriously, sometimes you think they could swap roles.) Bill Nighy ("Love, Actually") weighs in as Davy Jones and Stellan Skarsgård appears as Will's undead father. But the film still belongs wholly to Depp, who in a reprise of his Oscar-nominated role gets all the belly laughs with a single widened eyeliner-ed gaze. He still runs like a cartoon hen and slurs like Keith Richards--and he's still one of the most fascinating movie characters in recent history. "--Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: You won't need a bottle of rum to enjoy "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", especially if you've experienced the Disneyland theme-park ride that inspired it. There's a galleon's worth of fun in watching Johnny Depp's androgynous performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, a roguish pirate who could pass for the illegitimate spawn of rockers Keith Richards and Chrissie Hynde. Depp gets all the good lines and steals the show, recruiting Orlando Bloom (a blacksmith and expert swordsman) and Keira Knightley (a lovely governor's daughter) on an adventurous quest to recapture the notorious Black Pearl, a ghost ship commandeered by Jack's nemesis Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), a mutineer desperate to reverse the curse that left him and his (literally) skeleton crew in a state of eternal, undead damnation. Director Gore Verbinski ("The Ring") repeats the redundant mayhem that marred his debut film Mouse Hunt, but with the writers of "Shrek" he's made "Pirates" into a special-effects thrill-ride that plays like a Halloween party on the open seas. Aye, matey, we've come a long way since "Jason and the Argonauts"! "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: Spanish, English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: 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"

More "Planet Earth"
"Planet Earth" on HD DVD
"Planet Earth" on DVD
More BBC DVDs
Stills from "Planet Earth" (click for larger image)

Languages: English

Sound: SDDS

Comments: Rule the planet.

Summary: This remake of the 1968 blockbuster is an entirely different movie. If the viewer expects it to follow the original, the viewer will, undoubtedly, be disappointed. While the storyline is basically the same in that simians have enslaved humans, it has decidely different twists.



First and foremost, Rick Baker's ape make up surpasses that of the 1968 version. It is unbelievably good, almost remarkable. The makeup, coupled with the simian specific behavioral nuances, and the final filip brought to the simian characters by the actors themselves, brings the simian characters to life, making them very three dimensional.



The storyline is fairly simple. A Major Davidson, while traveling in a spaceship, attempts to rescue a space pod containing one of his favorite chimpanzees and finds himself caught up in an electro-magnetic disturbance. This storm causes him to crash land on a planet, where simians are the dominant species, and humans are their slaves. No sooner than he lands, that he finds himself enslaved and enbroiled in survival.



He discovers that there are two opposing camps of thought amongst the simians on the issue of humans. One school of thought, favored by Ari (Helen Bonham-Carter), favors equality, while the other, espoused by the sinister General Thade, urges extermination. There is also a romantic sub-plot between these two protagonists.



What happens to them all provides much food for thought. Wahlberg is somewhat wooden in his portrayal of Davidson, which is somewhat surprising, as he is usually a pretty competent actor. Tim Roth is absolutely terrific as the single minded and ruthless General Thade. While Helen Bonham-Carter is good as the liberal simian, it is Paul Giammatti who very nearly steals the show as Limbo, the slave trader. Look for Charlton Heston in the role of General Thade's dying father. This unbilled cameo is a nice touch and a salute to the 1968 film.



Tim Burton did an excellent job with this remake until the very end, when the movie seriously goes off course . This is unfortunate, as it serves only to have a jarring effect on the viewer, leaving the viewer to wonder what happened. With a better ending, it could have been a five star film.

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: 100% Pure Adrenaline.

Summary: An unbelievable movie, and deliriously better for it. Keanu Reeves is a hotshot law enforcement dude--Johnny Utah by name--investigating a series of bank robberies in L.A. Four gunmen, disguised in rubber masks of ex-U.S. presidents, have never come close to being caught, but veteran agent Gary Busey has a theory: The bandits are surfers. This prompts the superb line, "The ex-presidents rip off banks to finance the endless summer!" This movie's full of dialogue like that, but instead of sounding ridiculous it creates its own infectious comic-book energy--ride the crest of it and you'll find the film's giddy zone. Patrick Swayze plays Bodhi, zen-master leader of the surfing clan, humming serenely with the wisdom of the waves. (Alarmingly, Swayze also did his own skydiving stunts.) Director Kathryn Bigelow ("Strange Days") stages the action sequences with a visceral snap, and clearly has a gift for orchestrating pulp fiction. Though not a huge hit when was first released, "Point Break" has a well-deserved cult reputation thanks to its video afterlife. The film's executive producer is James Cameron, Bigelow's husband at the time. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Rambo" meets "Alien" in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before "Die Hard" made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of U.S. Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realize that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: A friendship that became a rivalry. A rivalry that turned deadly. (DVD)

Summary: Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale deliver Oscar-caliber performances in this over-looked gem. This has to be considered one of the best films of 2006. I don't want to say too much about this movie because this is one movie that you have to see for yourself and there are more twists and turns in this movie and an ending that I didn't see coming. What I will say about this movie is that it stars off with Jackman and Bale as partners and when the finale goes wrong- they will stop at nothing to destroy each other and to learn each others secrets. This is one movie that you'll want to see again and again. The Prestige is simply put, one of the best movies of 2006.



A masterpiece.

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Thai

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Before "The Wild Bunch", there was "The Professionals", Richard Brooks's marvelous ode to friendship, loyalty, and disillusionment. It may not have the stylistic bravado or fatalistic doom of the legendary Sam Peckinpah film, but Brooks's storytelling is simple and steady and just as insightful. The difference is Brooks is a lot more optimistic. Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster are buddies who have drifted into oblivion after fighting together in the Mexican Revolution. Marvin, the principled loyalist and munitions expert, lost his wife and his heart. Lancaster, the dynamite expert and unprincipled adventurer, keeps losing his pants. They team up with wrangler Robert Ryan and archer Woody Strode to rescue the beguiling Claudia Cardinale, who has been kidnapped by their old revolutionary buddie Jack Palance. So it's back into bloody Mexico they go on a "mission of mercy" for railroad tycoon Ralph Bellamy, who's paying handsomely for the return of his wife. But nothing is what it seems in this exciting, existential adventure, which was beautifully shot by Conrad Hall. Sarcastic quips, philosophical musings, and heart-rending reversals underlie Brooks's humanistic sentiments. These are tired, world-weary men who somehow find the strength and the will to pull together for the sake of love and commitment. Through it all, Brooks seems to be lamenting a decline in professionalism much deeper than his story. He's decrying Hollywood and the society at large, anticipating Peckinpah's later strategy. "--Bill Desowitz"