Dracula
A.D. 1972 (Hammer/Warner
Archive Blu-ray)/The Meg
4K (2018/Warner 4K Ultra
HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Snake
Outta Compton
(2018/Lionsgate DVD)/Sword
Of Sherwood Forest
(1960/Hammer/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition)/Vikings:
Season Five, Volume One
(2018/MGM/Fox Blu-ray Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A Picture: B/B+/B-/B+/B+ Sound:
B/A/B-/B+/B+ Extras: C-/C+/C+/C+/B Main Programs: B/B/C/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Sword
Of Sherwood Forest
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last,
while Dracula
A.D. 1972
is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series. All can be ordered from the links below.
Here's
a really interesting set of genre films to check out...
Hammer's
Dracula series starring Christopher Lee as the Count and Peter
Cushing as Van Helsing are must haves for any horror cinephile's
collection. After all these years, these films are slowly becoming
available on Blu-ray in America, but it has sadly been a long road
waiting...
This
year has been hot for re-releasing these titles on Blu-ray disc as
Shout! Factory is about to do a new release of Dracula:
Prince of Darkness,
and Warner Archive has finally decided to remaster and re-release
Alan Gibson's Dracula:
A.D. 1972
(1972) and its successor, The
Satanic Rites of Dracula
(1973, which we hope to cover on this site next soon).
Previously,
Warner Bros. released Dracula
Has Risen From The Grave
(1968) back in 2015 on disc, and Millennium Media did a 2013 release
of Dracula:
Prince of Darkness as
well that is not terrible. I still don't understand why there hasn't
been a definitive release of the first (and best) entry, Horror
Of Dracula
(1958), on Blu-ray in America! Get on that, Warner Bros. or someone!
Dracula
and Van Helsing fight in the past... with the Count thought to be
defeated once and for all. However, the Count meets the
counterculture as he gets resurrected via Johnny Alucard's Satanic
worshiping in London in 1972, and all hell breaks loose! Soon, the
fish out of water Vampire comes face to face with then-modern
culture, and of course bends them to his will and benefit... making
new vampires to serve him left and right. Luckily, Jessica Van
Helsing (Stephanie Beacham, The
Colbys)
and Peter Cushing's Van Helsing (reincarnated; a distant relative)
are there to stop him!
The
film also stars Christopher Neame, Michael Coles, and Marsha A. Hunt.
This
has been remastered in 1080p HD and is presented in a widescreen
aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a nice sounding English DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 2.0 Mono mix (48kHz, 24-bit). The film looks surprisingly
good for it age (color was by the Humphries lab instead of Rank or
DeLuxe, but was issued in three-strip 35mm Technicolor prints by
Warner in its original U.S. release in prints that are now very
valuable) and there's much more texture and detail in this transfer
as opposed to other versions I've seen in SD. There is little signs
of grain and the colors overall are vibrant and full of detail. This
is definitely the best I have seen this film look and sound on disc
so far!
Sadly,
the only extra is a new HD scan of the Original Trailer.
The
film is an absolute classic and one of the stronger entries in the
Hammer Dracula series! It's just a shame that there wasn't more time
spent on making this release more special with more extras and/or
insights in the Hammer production. Hopefully more of these Hammer
titles will be released and remastered in HD and available here as
they should be.
Out
of all the shark movies that you've seen over the years, Jon
Turteltaub's The
Meg 4K
(2018) certainly brings you the largest scale marine predator to ever
grace the silver screen. Able to swallow hundreds of swimmers in one
sure gulp, the Meg (short for Megalon and NOT Stewie's sister from
Family
Guy)
could easily take on Jaws
any day of the week in hand to hand combat.
Struck
with several delays over the years, The
Meg
has had a long journey to screen, (at one point Eli Roth was tapped
to direct) and didn't turn out nearly as bad as it easily could have.
A big budget Sy-Fy Channel movie in more ways than one, The
Meg
is more an action vehicle for Jason Statham than it is anything.
While it could have been more memorable had it been rated R with gore
(such a version does exist by the way), this PG-13 studio cut is more
family friendly and is fun to watch in 4K.
The
film also stars Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, and Winston
Chao.
The
Meg
is a giant size shark that has finally resurfaced after thought to be
extinct. When a submersible lies disabled at the bottom of the
Mariana Trench, an expert deep sea diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) gets
called in to save them (one of them being his ex-wife). Luckily,
they have a multi-million dollar sea research facility and crew of
experts to help launch the rescue mission, however once the Meg comes
around, who knows how much or who will be left?
The
Meg
is presented in 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced
Ultra High Definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and
several high end audio options. The disc has Dolby Atmos 11.1
lossless (Dolby True HD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) and a DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, so plenty of options for home
theater owners to test the film's beautiful sound mix out on.
Details on characters are more pronounced in the HDR (high dynamic
range) feature on the disc with lifelike characters and high end
digital effects. A 1080p Blu-ray copy of the film is also included
and a digital copy.
Special
Features include...
Chomp
On This: The Making Of The Meg
and
Creating
The Beast
While
The
Meg
isn't going to be a classic or anything, it's a fine summer
blockbuster film to watch and munch popcorn to. A little too heavy
on romance and drama in later acts, when the focus could have been
more on the giant shark eating people in this reviewer's opinion, the
film still manages to be fun and really looks great on 4K UHD disc.
Easily
one of the craziest and most over the top films of the year, Snake
Outta Compton
(2018) pits a group of wannabe rappers up against a mutating fifty
foot tall snake that's attacking the city of Compton, California.
Harryhausen this is not, but I don't think the goal here was to
make... Citizen
Kane.
When
a snake is thrown out of a plane (yes, really) in the opening
sequence and falls dead onto the windshield of a car, you get an idea
of what you're in for. The film is so utterly ludicrous that it's
hard to take it too seriously, but I would best describe it as a
slapstick hip-hop parody mixed with a giant snake movie and every
stereotype imaginable inserted therein...
The
film is presented on anamorphically
enhanced standard
definition DVD with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and a lossy
English 5.1 Dolby Digital mix, both of which are the norm for the
format at this point for newer films. I don't believe this film has
been released on Blu-ray or HD as of yet, but it would certainly be
beneficial.
Special
Features...
Commentary
with Director Hank Braxtan and Actors Ricky Flowers Jr., Motown
Maurice, and Joston Theney
and
a Trailer
We
also received a very nice rubber snake with our review copy that is
pretty thick and nice!
Snake
Outta Compton
is pure cheese, and it never strives to be anything less or more than
that.
Known
mostly for their horror films, Hammer Films also made other kinds of
films and they include a a Robin Hood movie called Sword
of Sherwood Forest
(1960), which was also directed by Terence Fisher (Blood
of Dracula)
and stars Peter Cushing with Richard Greene as the man in tights and
an appearance by Oliver Reed as Lord Melton. While nothing too far
out of the realm of the traditional story, Cushing plays a great
villain in the film and there's plenty of fun swordplay and nice
production design to keep cinephiles interested.
Robin
Hood (Greene) and Friar Tuck (Niall MacGinnis) go up against the
Sheriff of Nottingham (Cushing) who is teamed up with the Earl of
Newark to murder the Archbishop of Canterbury. But can Robin Hood
defeat them and win the heart of Maid Marian (Sarah Branch)?
The
film has been lovingly restored in 1080p with its original 2.35:1
widescreen aspect ratio and paired with a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
2.0 Mono lossless track. Shot on 35mm in MegaScope (relabeled
CinemaScope), the film looks and sounds incredible considering its
age. Colors are vibrant and pop, and there's little to gripe about
in terms of presentation. It also looks better than the DVD version
Sony issued years ago.
Special
Features...
Original
HD Trailer
Isolated
Music and Effects Track
Reversible
Cover
and
a full color insert book with linear notes by Julie Kirgo
While
there have been plenty of Robin Hood films over the years, this one
isn't particularly the best, but it shows another side of Hammer that
fans will find interesting. For more on this film and some other
Robin Hoods films Columbia Pictures made over the years, try this
ink...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9885/Columbia+Pictures+Robin+Hood+Collection+(Bandit
Finally,
the hit show
Vikings
returns for a fifth action packed season and lands on Blu-ray in all
of its might and glory with extended and unrated episodes, which is a
Blu-ray exclusive in this new Season
Five, Volume One
(2018)
set.
Season
Five
centers around Ivar the Boneless, who is now leader of the Great
Heathen Army, while Lagertha reigns as Queen of Kattegat. Ivar's
murder of his brother Sigurd sets the stage for vicious battles to
come as Ragnar's sons boil up a revenge plot. Bjorn follows his
destiny into the Mediterranean Sea and Floki who is suffering from
the loss of his wife Helga, takes to the seas submitting himself to
the will of the Gods. For history buffs, the show continues
historical accuracy in some regards, while mixing up plenty of
fantasy into the fold.
Vikings
stars Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen, Jessalyn
Gilsig, Gustaf Skarsgard, and John Kavanagh.
11
Episodes span 3 Blu-ray discs and include The
Departed Parts 1 and 2, Homeland, The Plan, The Prisoner, The
Message, Full Moon, The Joke, A Simple Story, Moments of Vision,
and The
Revelation.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, both of which are a vast
improvement over the original television broadcast. The money is on
the screen with this series and the feel is highly cinematic and
epic, all of which is captured nicely here. Hopefully one day, this
show will be available uncut on the 4K UHD format.
Featurettes:
I
am Boneless
Bringing
the Invisible People to Life: The Sami
Deleted
Scenes
and
Creator's audio commentary with Michael Hirst - Moments of Vision,
extended episode 510 (Blu-ray exclusive)
To
order The
Sword Of Sherwood Forest
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
...and
to order the Dracula
A.D. 1972
Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
-
James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
