Catwoman
Hunted 4K (2022/4K Ultra
HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Ghost
Riders (1987/MVD
Blu-ray)/The Pilot
(2021/Well Go Blu-ray)/Stargirl:
The Complete Second Season
(2021 Blu-ray Set/*both DC Comics/Warner)/The
355 (2020/Universal
Blu-ray w/DVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B+/B+/B-/B+/B- & C Sound:
B+/B+/B/B+/B- & C+ Extras: C+/B/C-/C+/C Main Programs:
B-/C+/C/C+/C
Now
for more action and suspense, genre style....
DC
Comics and Warner Bros. Animation shake up the slate with a new
animated Catwoman film, Catwoman: Hunted 4K (2022), which
features other familiar faces in Gotham such as Batwoman, Solomon
Grundy, Black Mask, and Leviathan amongst others. The film is
definitely inspired by the Japanese anime style of animation in some
regards and is influenced heavily by the Cowboy Bebop series.
In fact, the opening title sequence is a pretty big rip off of
Bebop's iconic opening. There's also a predominate jazz
soundtrack which was done originally in that animated show as well.
It fits fine and doesn't really detract from anything, but eagle eye
fans will certainly take notice.
The
film starts with Catwoman infiltrating a masquerade where many others
are dressed as iconic Batman villains. She sneaks in and steals a
very valuable jewel (with a cat name of course), and narrowly
escapes. But it was all a setup as Batwoman takes center stage and
soon the duo are fighting The League of Shadows together and the
villains mentioned above. Batwoman and Catwoman are a pretty good
pair and there's even a scene with a bit of sexual tension. In the
end, the film is pretty fun and doesn't have the Dark Knight himself
popping up anywhere, although he is mentioned of course.
The
voice cast includes Elizabeth Gillies, Stephanie Beatriz Jonathan
Banks, Steve Blum, Lauren Cohan, Keith David, Zehra Fazal, Jonathan
Frakes, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Kelly Hu, Andrew Kishino, Eric Lopez,
Jacqueline Obradors, and Ron Yuan.
Catwoman:
Hunted 4K is presented in upscaled 2160p on 4K UHD with an HEVC /
H.265 codec, HDR10, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and an
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless soundtrack.
The animation has a digital and traditional look in both regards and
is done nicely all around. The presentation is flawless in 4K with
the HDR pumping up the colors and contrast nicely and overall a quite
satisfying presentation. There's also a lesser quality 1080p Blu-ray
disc with similar specs.
Special
Features: When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted featurette and
Catwoman: The Feline Femme Fatale: Watch the documentary on
Catwoman's history.
Catwoman
Hunted 4K is a fun surprise from DC that I would certainly
recommend fans check out!
Ghost
Riders
(1987),
which has nothing to do with the Marvel Comics' character Ghost
Rider, has finally arrived on Blu-ray. In this '80s western
adventure is a fun ride even if it never quite lives up to the
coolness of its cover art. The film revolves around a group of
western outlaws who come back from the dead decades later to inflict
terror in the descendants of their enemies. The film has a low
budget and a bit of an old style of shooting about it, but the
concept and the characters are interesting. If you're a fan of
westerns and the supernatural, this is worth checking out!
The
film stars David Miller, Bill Shaw, Gerald Stewart, Bill Shaw, and
Jim Peters.
Ghost
Riders is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with
an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and an
English LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) that rounds out a nice HD
transfer that's up to standards. The film has an old fashioned style
about it and does what it can with its limited budget and limited
special effects for the time in which it was made. Overall, the
restoration to disc here is up to par.
Special
Features:
Audio
Commentary with director of photography / producer Thomas L.
Calloway, writer/producer James Desmarais and moderator Steve Latshaw
"Bringing
Out the Ghosts: The Making of Ghost Riders" (new original
documentary)
Reissue
trailer
"Low
Budget Films: On the Set of Ghost Riders" (vintage
documentary)
Movie
Stills & Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
If
you're a fan of Ghost Riders, then this is the ultimate
edition!
Renat
Devletyarov's The
Pilot
(2021) is a Russian-made WWII drama about the title fighter (popular
lead Pyotr Fyodorov) battling the Nazis in the air in some
interesting sequences (I liked the ideas of the sound effects in
particular) until he lands up grounded in enemy territory. It goes
from a sort of action film to something like The
Revenant,
though not as good, memorable or involving. This runs 106 minutes
and feels longer than that. Too bad they did not have a stronger
script, but the actors are trying.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is an all-HD
shoot with some good shots, but more dated-on-arrival CGI than one
would have liked, though some money is here in practical production.
We also get more softness and motion blur than I would have liked,
but the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is more consistent and has
a decent soundfield throughout.
Trailers
for this and three other Well Go releases are the only extras.
Stargirl:
The Complete Second Season
(2021)
has been released in a three disc set. The series revolves around
high school student Courtney Whitmore (Bred Bassinger) whose
stepfather (played by Luke Wilson) was formerly Starman's partner.
Once the original Star Man dies, he seeks to pass on the torch...
which ends up in the hands of young Courtney. Able to wield the
powers of the deceased superhero, she becomes Stargirl, who is an
unstoppable force in the face of a villain uprising... but whom also
has the daily struggles of being a seemingly normal teenager as well.
The
series also features Yvette Monreal (Rambo: Last Blood),
Anjelika Washington (Young Sheldon), Cameron Gellman
(Heathers), Trae Romano (Robbie), Jake Austin Walker
(Fear the Walking Dead), Hunter Sansone (Safety), Meg
DeLacy (The Fosters), Neil Jackson (Absentia) and
Christopher James Baker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), with Amy
Smart (The Butterfly Effect).
13
episodes span three discs and are 13-parts of the Summer School
tales.
Stargirl
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.20:1, and lossless, English
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) mixes. Commercial free and
free of network watermarks and interruptions, the series plays out
well on disc.
The
series is a bit lighter than Batwoman, of whom also has a
series of her own now and is reviewed elsewhere on this site, and the
addition of Luke Wilson helps bring in some humor. There's some
cheesy elements to it, but it's not bad for a young adult comic book
series. The special effects are pretty good, and overall it is
pretty easy to watch, even if it never really does much that we
haven't seen before.
Special
Features:
Never
Alone: Heroes and Allies
Gag
Reel
Thank
You, Georgia: Stargirl
Lastly,
Simon
Kinberg's The
355
(2020) is a spy action film with Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz,
Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong'o, Bingbing Fan, Edgar Ramirez and
Sebastian Stan and despite all that great acting talent, is a huge
disappointment with an awful, choppy, unoriginal, problematic
screenplay that never adds up to anything as everyone goes after the
latest top secret weapon and spends over two hours doing hardly
anything with it.
Allegedly
based on work by someone who worked on the Jason Bourne films, this
exercise has zero suspense, the director shoots this like he never
saw a spy film before and it is trying to land on the action side, so
it is not a serious realistic spy film like The
Ipcress File
or Spy
Who Came In From The Cold,
so forget about it working that way. Its not a comedy, intended
(Austin Powers) or not, so forget that too. It is just the most
failed package deal with the most missed opportunities I've seen in
years. If the producers were things of a franchise, they can even
forget that too.
Too
bad, because here have been many successful female spies from Mata
Hari in real life to the best in spy fiction history, the late, great
Diana Rigg's original Mrs. Emma Peel on the original British TV
classic The Avengers. I really, really wanted this to pick up
and work, but it never did, so see it at your own risk if REALLY
curious, because I am surprised this was even released as it stands.
Wonder if any cut scenes could have helped somehow?
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is an all-HD
shoot with more motion blur than I liked, plus too much shaky camera
movement that is annoying and gets in the way of this working at all,
playing even more annoyingly on the
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on the DVD. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray has an inconsistent
soundfield and odd editing and mixing choices, which also gets in the
way of the narrative, again made worse on the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix on the DVD. How unfortunate overall.
Extras
include Digital Code, while the disc (per the press release) adds
DELETED SCENES,
CHASING
THROUGH PARIS: Cast and filmmakers discuss the first day of shooting
on THE 355 and how the choreographed chase sequence through the
Parisian arcade set the tone for the entire production.
ACTION
THAT HURTS: A behind-the-scenes look at the stunts featured in the
film's centerpiece action sequence.
RECONSTRUCTING
MARRAKESH: From footage of construction to a set tour with
Production Designer Simon Elliott, we'll come to understand why the
cast was so blown away by the accuracy of the Moroccan set.
CHAOS
AT THE CITY OF DREAMS: Cast and filmmakers deconstruct the film's
final set piece, from exploding ceilings to major shoot-outs, to the
ultimate show-down fight between Jessica Chastian's and Sebastian
Stan's characters.
and
VFX BREAKDOWNS.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Pilot, 355) and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
