Close Range (2015)/Savage Dog (2017*)/Drunk Bus (2020/*both MVD Blu-rays)/The Gateway (2021/Blu-ray*)/MacGyver: Season Four (2020/new version/DVD/*both Lionsgate)/Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K (2020/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Windrider (1986/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B+/B+/B/B/B+ Sound: B/B+/B+/B/B+/B Extras: C/C/C/D/C/B Main Programs: C/B+/B+/B+/C/C

PLEASE NOTE: The Windrider Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, can play on all machines that can play Blu-ray and can be ordered from the link below.

Here's a wide range of genre films for you...

We start with two action packed flicks starring action stars Scott Adkins are now in a collectible double feature on Blu-ray now from MVD.

Close Range (2015) is your typical corrupt cop vs vigilante action thriller that echos beats of many other action films seen in the past. This time Scott Adkins has to protect his niece from a drug cartel that ends up with an explosive final battle at a ranch.

The film also stars Madison Lawlor, Caitlin Keats, Tony Perez, and Nick Chinlund.

Savage Dog (2017) centers on a corrupt prison where criminals fight each other in a high stakes gambling scheme. A former boxing champion and expert fighter, Martin Tilman (Adkins) is due to be released, but he's such a good fighter and asset that the powers that be try everything they can to keep them behind bars.

Special Features: Making of Featurette (Savage Dog) and Original Trailers for both films.

Drunk Bus (2020), inspired by a true story, is the tale of a heartbroken College Bus Driver named Michael (Charlie Tahan), who lives a directionless life. Day in and day out he finds himself tormented by college students, his job that's getting him nowhere, and the fact that he's still a virgin despite having been ready to settle down with his ex.

One day, a 300-lb Samoan man with facial tattoos and a flavor for punk rock named Pineapple (Pineapple Tangaroa) gets hired and he opens his eyes and tries to help him take charge of his life. As Michael starts to loosen up and let loose a bit, his friendships are tested, and ultimately he has to come to grips with his past. Just when he starts to get a handle on things and meets a new woman, he finds out that his ex is moving back to his home town and wants to talk...

The film also stars Kaya Hayward, Dave Hill, Sarah Mezzanote, and Frank Lero.

No extras.

Drunk Bus is a pretty fun coming of age romantic comedy that is easy to watch and has its moments of comedy and drama all pulled from a pretty strong screenplay. I'm sure just about everyone who has went to college can relate to the film in one way or another, and I would recommend checking it out.

Parker (Frank Grillo) is a social worker trying to help a mother hold on to her daughter, but things go from bad to worse when her recently paroled husband gets out of jail. As her 'husband' returns to his former occupation of crime and drugs, Parker has to make a choice to protect his client from violence but also investigating police who threaten to take away her daughter in Michael Civetta's The Gateway (2021).

Parker is also a drunken down on his luck social worker, but he still a good man, he knows all too well what it is like for children to be placed into foster care system and he tries to prevent that. But when a client's ex-con husband returns to his family, he steals from the cartel and hides the drugs and money in his daughter's school bag. Parker, the mother and the daughter is on the run, not know they are carrying the drug dealer's stash ...and will do anything to get it back. If the police find them first, the mother will definitely lose her daughter. Now Parker must protect both mother and daughter from both the police and gangsters after them.

This is a drama and violence filled movie centered around a mother and daughter and the social worker who is watches over them. In a city filled with gangsters and corrupt cops what is a social worker to do but take the law into his own hands when the law and the system fails. The innocent is forced to fight back or to do illegal things just to survive. Olivia Munn, Bruce Dern and Keith David also star. Extras include Living Legends: The Cast of the Gateway and trailers.

MacGyver is back along with the rest of the Phoenix Foundation. On the outside, the Phoenix Foundation is a think tank saving lives and solving problems to help society and mankind. Secretly, they are covert U.S. government agents sent in when all others have failed. However, MacGyver instead of going in with guns blazing, he uses with a boy scout knife, bubblegum and paperclips, his mind and ingenuity to overcome incredible odds with science in MacGyver: Season Four (2020).

After the fall of Phoenix Foundation, Russ Taylor a wealthy private military contractor buys out Phoenix and reopens the foundation. However, he warns them there is a global conspiracy with a secret organization called 'Codex' who believes mankind is destroying the Earth and the only way to save it is to hit the 'reset' switch by killing of half of mankind with a series of 'natural' disasters created through modern science. Codex has bought and infiltrated most world governments, military and organizations, and the Phoenix Foundation are the only ones who can stop them.

As a fan of the original MacGyver series, MacGyver is a character who doesn't use guns and uses his mind to solve problems and create solutions out of various junk works. The new MacGyver series is an updated series with a younger cast in more modern setting and pop culture. And while the character MacGyver still doesn't use guns, he has teammates who do, MacGyver is a team now and more like the series Mission Impossible (or the older version of this show) with a group of young agents off to save the world.

Episodes include:

Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix - Team Phoenix is brought back together when there is bio-terrorists planing to destroy the city and MacGyver is their only hope.

Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed - Phoenix is tricked into stealing a highly classified government chip, now they must not only stop the criminals but prove their innocence.

Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck - A pilot passes out on a plane with only a kid on board, can MacGyver find a way to safely land the plane?

Windmill + Acetone + Celluloid + Firing Pin - An old WWII bomb is discovered under a building and MacGyver must not only save the people but defuse the bomb.

Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan - Team Phoenix tries to capture the 'merchant', but then learns he has lead to Titan, a leader of Codex. Desi goes undercover in a soccer game to try and lure them out.

Right + Wrong + Both + Neither - Taylor gets a phone call from a former flame and he rushes to save her, only to discover they must somehow stop a warlord who owns the entire town and people there.

Mac + Desi + Riley + Audrey - MacGyver, Desi go on a double date with Audrey, but then find themselves in a hostage situation.

Father + Son + Father + Matriarch - MacGyver is reunited with his father and learns there are secrets regarding his past, his mother and a top-secret government plan.

Code + Artemis + Nuclear + Nemesis - Someone has taken over the city's power supply and is heading towards a nuclear meltdown, and is using Audrey old program 'Nemesis'.

Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac - Team Phoenix is in a race with Codex to discover Tesla's last super weapon 'Shiva'.

Psy-op + Cell + Merchant + Birds - The Phoenix foundation captures the Merchant and seeks to find out more about Codex's plans and their base of operations.

Loyalty + Family + Rogue + Hellfire - MacGyver infiltrates Codex, but in order to do so he goes rogue and he is being hunted down by his own people.

and Save + The + Dam + World - MacGyver must stop Codex from using an eco-doomsday device that will ignite a super volcano starting a chain reaction that could destroy the world.

Malcolm D. Lee's Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K (2020) is a sequel of sorts to the first Space Jam film with Michael Jordan (see our 4K review elsewhere on this site) and is really the third of the modern live-action animation feature Warner has released (Looney Tunes: Back In Action is also reviewed elsewhere on this site, was made in between) and is another hit.

Though one could write it off as a sports film, 'kids film' or another massive NBA tie-in (these to play much better than any such tie-in with the WWE in comparison) project, but some have rightly criticized the film for too many commercial plug-ins and outright ad placements (though a few do work) and some of those are NOT for children. This one tells a 'tall tale' exaggeration of LeBron James life story as he tries to teach his son the game he is a legend at.

His son is kidnapped (the child in jeopardy side of this is at least somewhat problematic) and James has to get a basketball game superteam together to help save him. Who to find? The same Looney Tunes gang from the earlier film. From there, it is predictable and highly formulaic, though the CGI space world looks a little better than average, it is when James is in the full Looney Tunes world that this nearly two-hour romp goes anywhere.

A somewhat 'can be fun while you watch it but quickly forgotten when its done' affair, the makers knew their audience and its the kind of film no other studio could produce because no one else has the long list of beloved animated characters Warner has and the industry knows it. I will add I am a fan of such characters at other studios, many of whom are forgotten, but that is just the way it is.

Don Cheadle leads the rest of the live-action cast and Zenyada the animated voice cast. For fans only.

Extras include four featurettes: First Quarter: Game On, Second Quarter: Teamwork, Third Quarter: Out of This World and Fourth Quarter: The Looniest, plus Digital Copy and Deleted Scenes.

Finally, make some waves with Nicole Kidman's first adult film role, Windrider (1986)! Here is a fun coming of age film about a smooth talking young man named P.C. Johnson (Tom Burlinson), who seemingly has it all and is especially good at the sport of wind racing. Things go awry when he meets the girl of his dreams - who is also a rock singer (Kidman), and he starts to lose his focus just as a championship looms. Can PC get his act together, win the championship, and this young lady's heart? While the story is a bit predictable at times and the film is definitely dated in more ways than one, this is a fun time capsule piece.

Special Features include:

Running Hot - Featurette with Director Vince Monton

Audio Commentary with Director Vince Monton and writer Everett De Roche

Nicole Kidman Music Promo

Young Thing Music Promo

Extended Bedroom Scene

Wind Surfing Promo

Script, Cast Bios/Press Kit and Press Clippings PDFs

Stills Gallery

and a Theatrical Trailer

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HECV/H.265, 1.85 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Jam 4K just edges out the rest fo the releases here and in the CGI animated sequences, but especially when James hits the fully animated Looney Tunes world, the image impresses as its best, even making the live-action footage suffer.

The 1080p version on Blu-ray is fine, but when the money and image really kicks in, it cannot compete with the 4K version, but both have a lossless Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) soundtrack that can be standard, then it kicks in and is not bad at all.

Both Atkins films are presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec and a widescreen aspect ratio (Close Range is 1.78:1 and Savage Dog is 2.40:1) - both films are paired with lossless DTS HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mixes. They both look and sound top notch for the Blu-ray format.

Bus is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossless 5.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) audio mix. The film is surprisingly well shot and has a nice HD transfer here. The soundtrack is fun and modern, and suitable for a film of this nature. Overall, the presentation is very professional and top notch.

The 1080p 2.00 X 1 digital High Definition image on Gateway looks really good for an HD shoot and the actors and locales are captured and edited well enough, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is well mixed, recorded and has the impact it needs for its narrative.

Windrider is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.77:1 and a lossless 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) mix, both of which are of a high quality for the format. The film has a very '80s look, soundtrack, and feel to it that many will no doubt find endearing.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the MacGyver episodes look as good as they can in this older format, so why no Blu-ray version? The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 is also impressive for a TV series, so maybe a lossless version would impress more.

To order the Windrider Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other hard-to-find titles at:

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

- Nicholas Sheffo (4K), Ricky Chiang (Gateway, MacGyver) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/